British GP: Alpine back in the points as Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto deliver at Silverstone. Alpine closes the gap to Racing Bulls with strong Silverstone performance.

Alpine returned to the points at the British Grand Prix after a disappointing outing in Spielberg, with both Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly finishing inside the top ten at Silverstone. Colapinto crossed the line in ninth place, while Gasly secured tenth, giving the Enstone-based team a valuable double points finish.

The result has reignited Alpine’s battle with Racing Bulls in the Constructors’ Championship, with just a single point now separating the two teams. As Formula 1 heads towards the final two races before the summer break, both drivers reflected on an encouraging weekend for Alpine.

Pierre Gasly: “The most important thing was the team result”

“On one hand, we have to be pleased to have scored points as a team, especially considering where we started. The most important thing is the team result, and today we managed to take advantage of some of the problems experienced by others. At the same time, our direct rivals also benefited, so there’s still a bit of disappointment with the final outcome,” the Frenchman admitted.

“On Saturday we had a radio issue that resulted in a grid penalty for impeding. Then yesterday we had a system failure during the pit stop that cost us a lot of time and, ultimately, track position. In the end, we simply tried to limit the damage, and one point is our reward.

“I know this is my 500th point in Formula 1, which is a nice personal milestone, but now we have to focus on improving the car quickly so we can score points more consistently,” he added.

Franco Colapinto delighted with Alpine’s comeback

“Finally, we have a reason to smile after what had been a difficult weekend for the team. Starting from 19th on the grid, we knew it would be a tough race and that scoring points would be an ambitious target. We had a little bit of luck with several other cars retiring, but we kept ourselves in the fight and, by the end of the race, we were in position to take advantage of the opportunity,” said the Argentine driver.

“Gaining ten positions was probably more than we expected, so I’m very happy with that. With Pierre also scoring points, it’s great to achieve a double points finish in the team’s home race.

“We made a good start and had some great wheel-to-wheel battles on the opening lap. Our first stint on the Medium tyres was really strong, and we managed to overtake several cars on track, which showed the pace we had today.

“It was a shame the race didn’t restart at the end because I wanted to try to overtake Gabi Bortoleto. It was a great recovery drive, but Racing Bulls have been stronger than us over the last two weekends, so we need to keep improving the car’s performance over the next few races,” he concluded.