Pierre Gasly blames Gabriel Bortoleto for ruinous Turn 1 clash at the Las Vegas GP. Pierre Gasly says Gabriel Bortoleto’s overly optimistic Turn 1 move caused the collision that ruined Alpine’s Las Vegas GP.

Gasly: “Bortoleto was excessively optimistic, we could have fought for points”

The Alpine driver expressed all his frustration after a race that was ruined from the very start by a Turn 1 collision involving Lance Stroll, triggered by Gabriel Bortoleto’s misjudged manoeuvre.

Bad luck strikes in the race

On the night of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Alpine had a genuine chance to secure a points finish thanks to Pierre Gasly’s tenth place in qualifying — combined with the post-race disqualification of both McLaren cars — misfortune once again pushed the French team away from the top ten. This time it was not a technical failure, but the involvement in an incident for which Pierre Gasly carried absolutely no responsibility.

Shortly after the start, the Frenchman was struck by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, which had itself been hit from behind by Gabriel Bortoleto after the Brazilian completely misjudged the entry to Turn 1. Forced to return to the pits due to the damage, Pierre Gasly spent the rest of the race far from the points. He eventually finished thirteenth, a position gained only after the previously mentioned McLaren disqualification.

“Our race was over after just a few hundred meters and it’s a shame we couldn’t show our potential today,” he said. “Bortoleto was excessively optimistic into Turn 1. He hit Stroll, who then touched me and spun me around, breaking the rear of my car, and we suffered a lot of damage there. It wasn’t a great evening for us and I’m sorry for the whole team, because I felt good in the car all weekend and it would have been interesting to see what we could have achieved. We were fast in both wet and dry conditions and I was excited to be in the fight, where I’m confident we could have battled for the points today. Now our focus shifts to Qatar, where conditions will be completely different to here. There are still two races to go and we will keep giving everything until the end.”

Another very negative weekend for Franco Colapinto

Franco Colapinto also suffered another difficult weekend. Hit by another car during the race, the Argentine driver could do no better than fifteenth and last place, expressing all his disappointment afterward.

“It wasn’t the best result in today’s race, after a contact from behind at the start that caused us damage and a loss of aerodynamic load for the entire race,” he explained. “I got away relatively cleanly and tried to avoid the chaos that happened at Turn 1, but I was hit from behind by Alex Albon. I felt a small impact, but the floor and diffuser took a heavy hit. It’s hard to say whether it was only because of the damage, but the car behaved much worse compared to the previous sessions. The balance was poor today and we lacked rear grip, with the back sliding a lot. It’s a pity because you always want to give your maximum, but sometimes these things happen in racing when they’re outside of your control. We need to quickly reset, and we look forward to ending the season on a positive note in the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.” – he pointed out at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

From a potential double points haul to zero after the first lap – Las Vegas summed up Alpine’s 2025 rollercoaster in one brutal evening.