Pierre Gasly brings Alpine back into points after four F1 races: “We’re still improving”. Alpine scored points for the first time in several F1 races.

The return
The Mexican Grand Prix offered a small but significant satisfaction for Alpine, as the team returned to the points zone for the first time in several weekends. All credit goes to Pierre Gasly, whose 10th place allowed the French team to secure a championship point and close the gap slightly with Williams for eighth place in the Constructors’ standings.

Closer to Williams
The Grove team was unable to achieve the same result, due to Alexander Albon‘s early collision and Franco Colapinto’s 12th place finish. Alpine is now only three points behind, with four races remaining in the championship: “I’m very pleased with today’s point,” Pierre Gasly explained. “It’s just one point, probably the best we could get, but it’s satisfying because it’s been a few races since we last scored points, and it shows we’re still improving. After yesterday’s strong qualifying, it was important to follow up with a reward, so I’m happy for the team to get 10th place today. There was some close contact at Turn 1. I felt it, then saw Tsunoda go off-track, so I was lucky to come out unscathed. From there, we focused on managing our race as best as possible. Next week we head to São Paulo for another Sprint event. We have some work to do, especially on race pace, but I’m optimistic for another positive weekend.”

A tough climb for Esteban Ocon
With this result, Pierre Gasly ended Alpine’s points drought that had lasted since the Dutch Grand Prix, where he himself finished 9th. However, Esteban Ocon remains distant from his last top-10 finish, ending 13th after starting from the pit lane due to power unit component changes: “Today was a tough and long race for us,” he explained after the race. “Starting from the back is never easy, and although we fought to climb up to 13th, our pace wasn’t enough to reach the points. We need to work ahead of next weekend to see where we can improve. We have a few days to work together to get a better result in Brazil, and we’ll aim to maximize everything we can in another Sprint weekend, where there are two opportunities to score points.” – the French driver concluded at the end of the Mexico City Grand Prix, which was held last Sunday at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.