Alpine delivers a strong performance in Miami by placing both of its cars in the top 10 of the Sprint qualifying. An encouraging result despite persistent questions in the garage.
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The Miami weekend offered a breath of fresh air to Alpine, which managed to place both its cars in the top 10 of the Sprint qualifying. In a format that is always tricky and under very demanding conditions, the French team showed a more competitive face, notably driven by a better understanding of the latest technical developments introduced on the A526.
In this challenging context, Franco Colapinto particularly stood out by securing eighth place on the grid. The Argentine achieved his best result in Sprint qualifying since joining Alpine, confirming an upward trend after several more difficult weekends. His teammate Pierre Gasly completes the top 10, despite mixed feelings about the behavior of his car.
Colapinto regains positive feelings
Happy with his performance, Colapinto emphasized the work done by the team during the F1 calendar break. According to him, Alpine is finally starting to fully exploit its potential, even if everything is not yet perfectly mastered.
The driver explained his feelings after the session: “I am happy because it was difficult to understand and we are finally in the rhythm, having the performance we were missing. We did good laps all day, in a Sprint weekend that is normally more difficult.”
He also highlighted an overall progression of the package: “We could see how to go in the right direction and I am happy with my performance today. The pace is fast compared to the rest of the field, we seem solid for now.”
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Gasly frustrated despite a top 10
On his side, Gasly shows more frustration despite his presence in SQ3. The Frenchman feels that his pace does not reflect the expected potential of his car, which nevertheless has an upgraded package this weekend in Miami.
He admitted not fully understanding the limits encountered: “We have a problem with the car that we can’t understand, we have no traction. This is not normal.”
The French driver also stressed his difficulties in getting back on the throttle effectively: “I can’t get back on the throttle, I spin much more. We didn’t have time to understand but we will have to analyze that before tomorrow.”
A still fragile but promising balance
Despite these internal contrasts, Alpine comes out of this Sprint qualifying with an overall positive result. The double top 10 confirms that the team is gradually getting closer to the front group, even if consistency remains to be built.
In an extremely tight field where every tenth counts, Alpine will now have to turn these good occasional performances into true regularity, especially in the race, where the opportunities to score points are most important.
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