Alpine’s difficult run continued at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Pierre Gasly finishing 11th and Franco Colapinto retiring as the French team went a third consecutive race without scoring a point. Gasly has now identified rear-tyre degradation and traction as major weaknesses that Alpine must address if it is to reverse its recent decline.
The Enstone-based team is enduring one of its most challenging periods of the season. While Racing Bulls continues to strengthen its position in the battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship through regular points finishes, Alpine has failed to reach the top 10 for three consecutive Grands Prix.
Alpine’s points drought continues in Singapore
After Franco Colapinto’s major mistake in Baku also involved Pierre Gasly, neither Alpine driver was able to recover with a points finish at Sepang. The situation did not improve at Marina Bay, where Gasly crossed the line in 11th place and Colapinto was forced to retire.
Gasly, who also finished outside the points in the Sprint along with Colapinto, admitted there was significant frustration inside the team after another weekend in which promising single-lap performance failed to translate into a strong race result.
“It is a disappointing result and, once again, our race did not go well at all,” Pierre Gasly said. “The start was difficult: I lacked traction off the line, and Lawson and Hülkenberg were able to overtake me and stay ahead.”
Pierre Gasly identifies Alpine’s traction problem
Gasly believes circuits that place particularly high demands on the rear tyres are exposing one of Alpine’s biggest weaknesses. The French driver explained that the team struggled to preserve the rear tyres in Singapore, which prevented him from maintaining the pace of the cars around him.
“On circuits like this that put a lot of stress on the rear tyres, we clearly have traction problems that are starting to hurt us seriously. We simply wore out the rear tyres and could not keep up with our rivals; that caused us to lose ground and ultimately finish outside the points.”
“We absolutely have to spend time on this problem to understand it fully and try to solve it quickly. We have every reason to be frustrated after these three races. I have reached Q3 three times — four if we include Sprint Qualifying — but we have come away empty-handed.”
The contrast between Alpine’s qualifying speed and its performance over a full race distance has become a particular concern for Gasly.
“It seems that we are struggling over the race distance and we will have to turn things around if we want to fight with our rivals. Given our single-lap performance, I am confident for the next three races, provided we fix a few things and continue improving the car.”
Franco Colapinto retires with suspected transmission problem
Alpine is now 32 points behind Racing Bulls in the standings, while Colapinto’s Singapore Grand Prix ended on lap 30 of the scheduled 62 after a gearbox-related problem forced him to stop.
“It is frustrating not to have been able to finish the race again today because of a suspected transmission problem,” Franco Colapinto said. “Motorsport is sometimes like that; reliability has been one of our strengths this year, so I know the team will analyse the cause of the problem and take the necessary action.”
The Argentine had made progress at the start before becoming caught behind traffic on a circuit where overtaking opportunities are limited.
“I made a good start and passed a few cars, then we stayed in the slipstream of those ahead because overtaking here is very difficult. While we were evaluating the pit stop and the next phase of the strategy, I felt something unusual and it became clear that we had to stop.”
Alpine targets recovery during upcoming races in the Americas
Colapinto admitted Alpine’s recent run has made its championship task more difficult, but he remains encouraged by the underlying pace of the car heading into the next phase of the season.
“Overall, the last few weekends have been difficult and we have not scored a single point. We have lost ground in the championship, which makes our task harder, but our pace allows us to remain optimistic about our chances of being competitive and fighting for points in the remaining races.”
The next three rounds will also carry additional personal significance for Colapinto as Formula 1 returns to the Americas.
“The next three races are one of the periods of the year I look forward to the most: we are racing closer to home, on the American continent, where I can really feel the energy of the fans. We will continue to give everything and we will not give up on our team objective.”
For Alpine, the immediate priority is now clear: convert its encouraging qualifying speed into consistent race performance. Unless the team can improve traction, rear-tyre management and reliability, closing the 32-point deficit to Racing Bulls will become increasingly difficult as the season moves into its final stages.
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