Alpine’s severe tyre degradation at the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix may be partly linked to the design of the wheel rims fitted to its A526, according to Pierre Gasly. The French driver believes the team’s relatively closed wheel rim configuration contributed to excessive tyre temperatures and poor traction, turning a promising qualifying performance into another disappointing race result.
Alpine had secured an excellent fourth-row starting position at Marina Bay, with Pierre Gasly qualifying seventh and finishing ahead of all his direct midfield rivals. However, after losing two positions at the start, the Frenchman struggled with tyre degradation and eventually finished 11th, narrowly missing out on points behind Isack Hadjar.
Isack Hadjar had started from the back of the grid after suffering gearbox problems in qualifying, making his recovery particularly frustrating for Alpine. Although it was reasonable to expect both George Russell and Isack Hadjar to make progress through the field, even on a circuit where overtaking is difficult, Pierre Gasly’s objective had been to remain inside the top ten.
Pierre Gasly loses positions at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix
Pierre Gasly’s difficulties began immediately when the lights went out. Both Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg overtook the Alpine driver through the opening corners, costing him two positions before he could establish a rhythm.
“We had no power at the start. We need to analyse what happened because we’ve always had very good starts this year,” Pierre Gasly explained after the race.
The poor getaway was particularly disappointing because Pierre Gasly had beaten all his immediate midfield rivals in qualifying. At Singapore, where track position is especially valuable, losing places on the opening lap can make recovering them extremely difficult.
However, the start was only one part of Alpine’s problems. An even greater issue emerged during the race as Pierre Gasly struggled to keep his tyres within a competitive operating window.
Alpine’s tyre degradation ruins Pierre Gasly’s points chances
Pierre Gasly began the race on Medium tyres before switching to the Soft compound during the second half of the Grand Prix. With approximately seven laps remaining, the Alpine driver was still running in tenth position, eight seconds behind Liam Lawson.
His pace then deteriorated significantly. Over the closing laps, Pierre Gasly lost approximately ten seconds to the New Zealander and as much as 14 seconds to Isack Hadjar, eventually slipping outside the points-paying positions.
The Frenchman attributed the sudden loss of performance to the characteristics of the Alpine A526, particularly its inability to maintain rear tyre grip through repeated acceleration zones.
“On a circuit with lots of low-speed corners and a lot of traction demands, we simply ran out of tyres after three laps,” Pierre Gasly explained.
He then described the significant difference between how the car behaved over a single qualifying lap and during a longer race stint.
“In qualifying, the tyres are cold and, over a single lap, they don’t have time to overheat that much. In the race, as soon as you get into the car, the feeling is good for one lap, two laps, but by the third lap our temperatures are through the roof and we have no traction left. We know it’s a limitation of the car, but I was hoping for something better.”
The problem illustrates why Alpine can appear competitive in qualifying yet struggle to maintain the same relative performance during a Grand Prix. While fresh tyres provide enough grip for one fast lap, repeated traction demands quickly push the rear tyres beyond their ideal temperature range.
Why poor traction made Alpine vulnerable at Marina Bay
The closing stages of the Singapore Grand Prix provided an interesting comparison between Pierre Gasly’s difficulties and the defensive driving demonstrated by Nico Hulkenberg.
The German managed to keep George Russell behind despite the Mercedes driver potentially having superior race pace. Although George Russell had already placed considerable demands on his tyres while recovering through the field, Nico Hulkenberg’s defensive approach also played an important role.
By maximising his acceleration out of corners and managing his available energy, Nico Hulkenberg was able to protect his position on a circuit where completing an overtake is particularly challenging.
Pierre Gasly, by contrast, could not achieve the same result because the rear of his Alpine repeatedly lost grip under acceleration. Each time he attempted to apply power, the car began to slide, preventing him from transferring its performance effectively to the asphalt.
The consequences extended beyond slower corner exits. Excessive wheelspin and poor traction also increased the energy required to accelerate, creating an additional disadvantage on the straights.
“Our problem is that I can’t get out of any corner. It’s one thing to be slow, but if you can exit a corner with good speed, you can keep them behind. The problem was that I was going sideways every time I touched the throttle. Sometimes I was even faster than Nico, but I couldn’t get out of the corners. Every time I got on the throttle, I went sideways and couldn’t make up the time on the straights,” Pierre Gasly said.
How Alpine’s A526 wheel rims contribute to tyre overheating
One of the most interesting elements of Pierre Gasly’s assessment concerns the wheel rims selected by Alpine for the Singapore Grand Prix. The French driver suggested that the team’s tyre temperature problems are also connected to this particular component.
Although Singapore’s high ambient and track temperatures generally prevented drivers from encountering major tyre warm-up difficulties, bringing the front tyres into their ideal operating window remained challenging.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit features numerous corners, but many are relatively slow. Consequently, generating sufficient energy in the front tyres can be difficult, prompting teams to adopt different approaches to tyre preparation and temperature management.
This is where wheel rim design becomes particularly important.
Alpine continued to use relatively closed wheel rims on the A526 in Singapore. As a general principle, more enclosed designs tend to assist tyre warm-up by influencing how heat is retained and transferred around the wheel assembly.
However, there is a potential disadvantage. If tyre temperatures cannot be controlled effectively, the same characteristics that help with warm-up can increase overheating and accelerate degradation.
As temperatures rise, tyre pressures also tend to increase. This can reduce the effective contact patch between the tyre and the track, compromising grip and making it even more difficult for the driver to accelerate cleanly.
For Pierre Gasly, that combination created a particularly damaging cycle: excessive temperature reduced traction, the car began sliding under power, and the resulting wheelspin placed even greater demands on the tyres.
Why Formula 1 teams are investing more in wheel rim development in 2026
Wheel rim development has become an increasingly important technical area under Formula 1’s 2026 regulations. Teams have invested considerable resources in optimising their designs, recognising the influence these components can have on tyre temperatures and overall performance.
Pirelli has observed substantial differences not only compared with the previous season, when development opportunities were restricted because wheel rims were standardised, but also between the approaches adopted by individual teams in 2026.
These variations have created different tyre management characteristics across the grid, particularly at circuits where temperature control plays a decisive role.
At Singapore, the combination of high temperatures, repeated low-speed corners and significant traction demands made the disadvantages of Alpine’s chosen configuration especially apparent.
Similar challenges involving rear grip and tyre temperature management have also affected other teams. Ferrari, for example, encountered its own difficulties during the Singapore weekend, with the SF-26’s rear grip limitations influencing its race performance and strategic options.
For Alpine, however, Pierre Gasly believes the connection between its wheel rim configuration and tyre behaviour is already sufficiently clear to identify an important development priority.
“I think it’s pretty clear what we need to work on. We know why we have some of these problems related to the wheel rims we’re using. The point is that on a track like this, it costs us an enormous amount,” the Frenchman added.
The challenge for Alpine is therefore not simply to improve outright pace. The team must also find a way to manage tyre temperatures more effectively over a full race stint, allowing Pierre Gasly to translate promising qualifying performances into competitive results on Sunday.
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