Pierre Gasly believes that the next package of upgrades Alpine will introduce at the Dutch Grand Prix will be crucial to allow the team to stay in the fight for fifth place.
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After an excellent start to the season, the Enstone team has gradually lost ground to competitors who have further developed their cars.
Alpine was, however, the benchmark in the midfield at the start of the year. After six rounds, the team was in fifth place in the championship, just 19 points behind Red Bull, notably thanks to Gasly’s controversial podium in Monaco.
Negative spiral
Since the Miami Grand Prix, however, Alpine has not brought any major upgrades, while Racing Bulls has moved ahead and Audi has regularly scored points to get back into the fight.
The situation became even more worrying in Hungary, where Aston Martin made a spectacular leap with its new AMR26, performing well enough to reach Q2 for the first time this season.
Aware of the urgency, Alpine is preparing a significant aerodynamic package for Zandvoort. Managing director Steve Nielsen has already confirmed that the team will introduce important new aerodynamic parts, and Gasly believes these upgrades could define the rest of the season.
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“In Formula 1, when you bring upgrades, you naturally expect to improve, explains the Frenchman. I have no doubt these new parts will work as the team hopes, but they are very important. Aston Martin gained nearly two seconds this weekend and will receive a new engine at Zandvoort. Racing Bulls has made huge progress since the start of the season, Audi as well. On our side, we have hardly evolved. So it is essential if we want to keep hope of finishing fifth in the championship.”
Frustrated and clear-headed
In a season marked by new technical regulations, the ability to develop the car effectively makes all the difference. Alpine knows the consequences: after being the fourth force on the grid at the start of the ground effect era in 2022, the team has gradually fallen back to become one of the least competitive in 2025, due to insufficiently effective development.
Gasly admits that the current situation is frustrating. He has scored points only once in the last four races and notes that the performance deficit is becoming increasingly obvious, especially in qualifying: “This is not the reality I want to see, but it must be accepted. For several races now, it’s always the same story: we are 12th or 13th in qualifying behind Racing Bulls and Audi. In the race, sometimes we think we can follow them, but they are simply faster. And honestly, I don’t feel good in the car. It doesn’t respond at all as I would like and doesn’t allow me to drive as I need. There are many things to fix.”
With an increasingly competitive midfield and rivals continuing to progress rapidly, Alpine is therefore playing an important part of its season at Zandvoort. For Gasly, another failure in development would seriously compromise the team’s ambitions in the fight for fifth place in the championship.
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