Alpine leaves Melbourne with a point as Pierre Gasly fights through the field. Pierre Gasly scores a valuable point for Alpine in the 2026 Australian GP.

Pierre Gasly managed to bring home a valuable point for Alpine at the Australian Grand Prix, finishing in tenth place after a challenging race in Melbourne. The result came despite the difficulties the Enstone-based team experienced during qualifying, which had raised some concerns ahead of the race. The Australian round also marked the first race in the history of the Enstone outfit running with Mercedes power units, adding another layer of attention to the team’s performance.

However, thanks to well-executed strategy calls and several retirements ahead, the opening race of the 2026 Formula 1 season ended with a points finish for Gasly. The French driver was the only Alpine driver to bring the team into the top ten in just five races during the previous championship, and once again he proved capable of maximizing the available opportunities.

One point, many challenges

The French driver crossed the line in tenth position, just ahead of his compatriot Esteban Ocon from Haas, after starting from 14th place on the grid. Reflecting on the race, Gasly explained how demanding the afternoon had been behind the wheel:

“It was a hard-earned point, and we can be satisfied to have achieved it. It was definitely a long afternoon in the car! I had a good start, gained a few positions, and then had some pretty interesting battles on track. We suffered some damage due to contact, so we probably couldn’t show our full potential. I think that if the circumstances had gone a bit more in our favour, we could have fought even higher up the order.

There are many positive aspects to take away, and I’m sure there are a lot of things to learn ahead of next week. The race itself is certainly very different. Today brought many new challenges, and there are a lot of tactics and factors that now come into play. Now that we’ve seen a race unfold, there are so many new tricks to understand and apply next time. I enjoyed it – it was a demanding race from start to finish and now there is a lot to work through. Next week we have the Sprint weekend in China, where we will need to be immediately operational and find the rhythm quickly. I leave here happy, so congratulations to the whole team.”

More complicated race for Colapinto

It was a more difficult race for Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto, who finished in 14th position at the chequered flag. Nevertheless, the Argentine driver deserves recognition for his remarkable reflexes at the start, which allowed him to avoid a potentially serious collision with the Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson, which had a slow launch off the grid.

Colapinto explained his perspective after the race:

“If we look purely at the final result, we are not where we wanted to be. However, there are definitely some positive aspects to take from the race pace and the data we collected, which we can learn from for the future races. From where we started on the grid, it was always going to be difficult, and in the end the penalty for a start infringement cost us the chance to fight further up the order.

We win and lose as a team, and we are all in the same boat. I was actually lucky to finish the race because it almost ended at the start with a scary moment while trying to avoid Lawson, who was extremely slow off the line. I almost hit the back of him and only saw him at the last moment. I steered to the right and squeezed between him and the pit wall. I think I touched the wall, but fortunately we didn’t suffer serious damage and managed to get through the first lap safely.

Despite the final result, considering where we started the weekend, I think we can be satisfied with the overall feeling and the performance of the car, especially in race trim, which seems comparable to some of our midfield rivals. Congratulations also to Pierre for scoring a point to start the season.”

Pierre Gasly’s tenth-place finish provides Alpine with a vital psychological boost as they navigate their crucial transition to Mercedes power units. While the race highlighted the tactical “new tricks” required to master the 2026 energy deployment, Pierre Gasly’s ability to secure points despite mid-race damage suggests that Alpine’s race-day operations are already finding their feet, even if raw qualifying pace remains a work in progress.