Pierre Gasly drives Alpine’s early 2026 surge

Pierre Gasly has turned Alpine’s 2026 reset into one of the clearest stories of the new Formula 1 season. After three races in Melbourne, Shanghai and Suzuka, the Alpine driver has 15 points, sits eighth in the drivers’ standings, and has helped lift the Mercedes-powered team to fifth in the constructors’ championship. This is the same team that finished last in 2025, and at Suzuka Gasly even ended the race ahead of Max Verstappen after keeping him behind for the final half.

That start already amounts to nearly three quarters of Alpine’s entire 2025 points total of 22. According to the source material, Alpine is also level on points with Red Bull in the early constructors’ standings, while sitting behind Haas. Gasly is the only non-Mercedes or Ferrari driver to have scored in every grand prix so far.

As Alpine prepared for Miami, Gasly said the team is now seeing the return from the hard choice it made last year. “Personally, I tried to do what I could with the guys because I knew I needed them for this year. But at the same time, it’s important for us to deliver and just show that the sacrifices we had last year paid off and, at the moment, that’s what we’re showing,” Gasly, Alpine driver, said in comments to the media.

He also said morale inside Team Enstone is changing because the car has taken a real step. Alpine’s move away from Renault power to Mercedes engines has removed the power deficit that hung over the team before, according to the source material, and Gasly has paired that with an A526 chassis that looks far more competitive than its predecessors.

“The qualifying gaps” to rivals that were much quicker last year are now much smaller, Gasly, Alpine driver, said in comments to the media. He pointed to direct comparisons that would have felt out of reach in 2025. “Obviously, we still need to close that gap with the cars ahead. But at the same time, in Shanghai, we missed three tenths off McLaren for P6. [In Suzuka], I’m missing a tenth and a half to Lewis [Hamilton], so there’s definitely some progress,” Gasly, Alpine driver, said in comments to the media. He added: “I’m sure at the factory, everybody is enjoying what we’re seeing, and we know we’ve got more coming.”

Suzuka gave the strongest picture yet of where Alpine is. Gasly finished seventh, first of the drivers outside Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. After the race, he called it a “mid-group victory,” according to the source material. “I mean it’s not every single weekend I have the chance to fight with a four-time world champion,” Gasly, Alpine driver, said after Suzuka. “I’m glad to be in a position to do it with him.” The source material describes Verstappen showing his frustration with a sarcastic raised-hand gesture after Gasly passed him, a sign that he knew another move was unlikely.

Gasly is not dressing this up as a midfield story alone. “I am very happy that our car is performing on all types of circuits,” Gasly, Alpine driver, said after Suzuka. “At Suzuka I was about three or four tenths per lap from Lewis Hamilton, but Ferrari is our next target. We have to do everything in our power to catch them.” He set the longer target just as clearly in comments reported by Autosport: “It’s not going to happen over the course of the month, but I’d like to see ourselves after the summer break being a bit more of a player in that group with McLaren and Ferrari.”