Pierre Gasly admitted Alpine’s lack of pace was the biggest frustration after the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix (GP), after starting P10 but slipping to P11 at the chequered flag.
The Alpine driver endured a difficult race at Spa-Francorchamps, with a lack of power off the line compromising his start before a slow pit stop further affected his strategy. Gasly managed to recover two positions after his poor getaway, but ultimately could not convert his starting position into a points finish.
He believed a cleaner pit stop could have placed him ahead of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, potentially changing the outcome of his race.
“I had no power at the start, so it’s clearly not good stuff to have around Spa,” Gasly explained.
“I had a poor start, I managed to recover two positions and then after we had a slow stop, unfortunately, it was a better stop. We would have ended in front of Lawson and Lindblad, which I think would have changed our race because after I spent 25 laps at the end, unfortunately, when we were three-wide into Turn 5, I didn’t come out on top.
“I lost the position there and battled a bit more with Lawson. So, yeah, it was just a bit of a frustrating race.”
Drop in pace at the Belgian GP
Gasly ultimately finished P11, one position behind his starting place, and admitted Alpine’s overall pace was a bigger concern than the individual strategic setbacks.
“I think at the end of the day, we beat P11 and we were just too slow,” he said. “We were finishing far away from Bortoleto, and that’s clearly not where we want to be.”
Despite the slow pit stop, Gasly defended Alpine’s strategy, suggesting the team’s undercut attempt was not the fundamental issue.
“The strategy was fine,” Gasly said. “But when we try an undercut, we need to have a good start. Now it’s two races in a row which doesn’t really work. I mean, it’s small things we’ll review.”
Focus on improving Alpine’s performance
However, Gasly stressed that Alpine’s focus must now be on improving its performance rather than simply correcting the smaller mistakes that affected its Belgian GP.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s not really what matters,” he continued. “I like to be fighting the cars up the road and at the moment, we’re just too slow the last few weekends, and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
Alpine’s lack of pace was made more evident by the performance of Racing Bulls, who appeared to have a significant advantage over Gasly’s team across qualifying.
Asked whether Racing Bulls had become the midfield benchmark, Gasly admitted that Alpine had work to do to match its rivals.
“Over a single lap, in quali, they were miles ahead,” he said. “In the race, I’m not too sure what happened because they looked a bit more… I mean, Liam, I think, was on a different stint.”
“Yeah, I mean, they’re clearly hitting the benchmark with Audi. We need to work to keep up the battle.”
