Alpine targets comeback at COTA: Pierre Gasly on challenges and opportunities. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto share their thoughts ahead of the US Grand Prix.

Alpine heads to Austin

Over the last six race weekends, Alpine has been called upon to show a reaction of pride after a disastrous return from the summer break, which left the team as the only one without any movement in the standings since Zandvoort. It will not be an easy task, especially since the team is already looking ahead to 2026 and has not brought new upgrades to the track for some time. In Austin, expectations will largely rest on Pierre Gasly, although Franco Colapinto showed some signs of improvement in Singapore.

Gasly’s perspective

Pierre Gasly himself is aware of the difficulty of scoring points in Texas despite the double opportunity provided by the Sprint and the Grand Prix. He said, “At this moment it’s clear that we are far from the objective we set in terms of competitiveness. However, I believe better days are ahead, especially when we look at the six remaining races and some circuits that are more suited to our car and, of course, to 2026.”

“A positive aspect of Singapore was that we made some changes to the car to better understand and collect data on our current performance level,” he continued. “We identified some anomalies that proved to be valuable, and I know that this weekend in Austin we will aim to improve my side of the garage. I feel good and am fully focused on the Sprint weekend at COTA, a challenging circuit that we hope will be more favorable to our package.”

Colapinto’s view

Franco Colapinto added, “We haven’t had an easy period over the last races, but as a team, we’re keeping our heads down and focusing on learning as much as possible every time we’re on track. I’m confident there will be races more suited to us, and we’ll do everything we can to be competitive and try to score points from now until the end of the year.”

“Singapore wasn’t without positives: we had a strong start, and I was able to participate in some battles, but in the end, we didn’t have enough pace to fight for the top ten. Last week, I spent some time at Enstone to review the weekend and prepare for Austin. COTA is an incredible track to drive on, and with the Sprint format, it’s fantastic to have two races on this circuit. American fans are always amazing, and there’s always a strong Argentine following in the crowd, which makes me very happy. We’ll work hard from the start to put on a show, and hopefully, we’ll be rewarded with a strong result.”