Alpine banks 12 Canada points despite car concerns

Alpine delivered its strongest combined result of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Canadian Grand Prix, scoring 12 points with Franco Colapinto in sixth and Pierre Gasly in eighth to extend its advantage in fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.

That outcome looked unlikely earlier in the weekend. Gasly started only 14th after what became another difficult Saturday on his side of the garage, but recovered into the points in Montreal, while Colapinto converted 10th on the grid into the best finish of his Formula 1 career. The double score gave Alpine a significant boost after a Friday team director Flavio Briatore described as difficult.

Briatore said Alpine's turnaround came from execution as much as pace. “We executed a good strategy, the drivers did an excellent job on track,” he said, adding that the result means the team now extends its advantage in P5 in the Constructors’ Championship.

For Gasly, though, the finish did not disguise the underlying problem. The Alpine driver said it was “a bit of a damage limitation result” after he “struggled with the car again” through the weekend. He said the opening stint was especially difficult because the medium tyres were “quite cold and low grip to begin with,” before he recovered positions and closed on Liam Lawson late in the race.

Gasly said he could not find a way past Lawson, admitting it was “tough to find anywhere to overtake him and we just could not get by,” leaving him to settle for eighth. Even so, he called the four points important after what he described as a weekend of sustained struggles.

He was more explicit about where Alpine is still losing out. Gasly said the team needs to understand why the car balance has been so difficult to manage and pointed to traction as a clear weakness, adding that the data has shown the issue plainly since Miami. “Overall, we suffered quite a lot with the car again this time,” he said. “We’ll have to check the cause as a team and improve some parts.”

Colapinto’s race was cleaner on paper than in reality. He said Alpine “maximised everything we could” even if others’ problems helped move him forward, and he also survived a moment that could easily have ruined his afternoon. Exiting the pits, he hit a wet patch, ran onto the white line and drifted toward the wall, making side contact that caused only minor damage and did not require repairs.

The sixth place finish still stood as a breakthrough for Colapinto and a major part of Alpine’s best team result of the year. He said the double points finish was “a fantastic reward for everyone at the team who has been working so hard.”

The bigger picture, though, is that Alpine left Canada encouraged by the result rather than satisfied by the car. Briatore said both drivers continue to report similar issues and warned that “there is a lot of hard work ahead if we are to improve our competitiveness.” Gasly struck the same note heading toward Monaco, calling it his favorite race of the year and saying he wants Alpine to fix some of its current limitations so he can arrive there with “more confidence and more performance.”