Pierre Gasly secured a valuable tenth-place finish for the Alpine F1 Team at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, thanks to the right strategic decisions taken alongside the team. Although it yielded just a single championship point, it marked the French driver’s second consecutive race finish in the points and his fourth overall in what has been a challenging season.
Gasly remains Alpine’s strongest performer
In the bottom half of the Formula 1 drivers’ standings—specifically from 10th to 13th place—there is a close cluster of French drivers separated by just seven points: Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar, and Pierre Gasly. While both Ocon and Hadjar failed to finish within the top ten at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (with a footnote that Ocon did secure an impressive fifth-place result in Saturday’s Sprint Race), it was Gasly who once again proved to be Alpine’s most consistent points scorer, remaining the only driver from the Enstone-based team to have finished in the top ten during a Grand Prix in the 2025 season.
Emotional finish at Spa-Francorchamps
Crossing the finish line in tenth position as the chequered flag was waved by Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx, Pierre Gasly climbed up from 13th on the starting grid. He achieved this result with a one-stop strategy, switching from Intermediate tyres to Medium compound slicks on lap 11.
“It was a very intense race, and I’m really happy that we made the right calls to bring home a point, which is something we can be proud of,” said Gasly after the race. “We made some excellent strategic decisions, like choosing an aggressive, low-downforce setup that allowed us to both attack and defend on the straights. We also nailed the timing of our switch to dry tyres, as the track dried out quicker than expected. So yes, I’m really pleased with our execution—our hard work paid off. It’s only one point, but after a race like this, where I had to defend from so many cars for such a long time, we can be satisfied.”
Gasly, who now has four points finishes this season, expressed particular joy at achieving this result at Spa, a track that holds personal meaning for him. “Spa is always a special weekend for me for so many reasons, so it was great to have my family here along with Anthoine Hubert’s mother,” added the Frenchman, referring to his late friend and fellow driver. “We’ll take this one point and head to Hungary next week ready to give it our all in the last race before the summer break.”
Contrasting fortunes for Colapinto
While Pierre Gasly had reason to celebrate, it was a far tougher day for Franco Colapinto, who started from 15th on the grid and finished in second-to-last position.
“It was a long and difficult race for us,” said the Argentine driver. “With the changing conditions, there was always the chance to gain some ground, even starting from 15th—especially since a few cars started from the pit lane. At the start, the track was very wet, and perhaps things looked better for us when the surface started to dry out. We had chosen a low-downforce rear wing to prioritise top speed on the straights.”
Colapinto noted that the early laps were promising: “The start was good, and we caught up with the cars in front. We then pitted for slicks once the track was ready, but we struggled to find rhythm on the Medium tyres in the traffic. Later on, we came in again to cover Carlos Sainz, but in the end, we weren’t able to make up any ground on him.”
The 21-year-old rookie was quick to acknowledge Gasly’s achievement: “Congratulations to Pierre for finishing tenth and scoring a point for the team. For us, it was a tough weekend, but we’ll keep working hard during the week to prepare for the Hungarian Grand Prix.”
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