Pierre Gasly was unable to score points at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP despite the Alpine showing good pace following the VSC. Following the race, Gasly discussed how the new ‘Madring’ track can be improved for racing in the upcoming seasons.
Pierre Gasly on his 2026 F1 Spanish GP
The 2026 Spanish GP took place in Madrid at the brand new ‘Madring’ circuit. The drivers discussed the ‘scary’ track before the weekend started, with Gasly stating that he expects plenry of red flags. Following the free practice sessions, tyre management was a big talking point.
However, the race itself did not turn out as chaotic as expected. Pierre Gasly made his only pit stop on lap 55 of the 57 lap Spanish GP.
The Frenchman was able to nurse his hard tyres throughout the race and still produce good pace. He ran in 8th for a long while as his teammate and other midfield runners who started on mediums or softs could take the cheap stop under a VSC. Ultimately, he pulled a gap of 15s to Gabriel Bortoleto, who was on the same strategy as him.
Unfortunately for Pierre Gasly, however, he was unable to score points for Alpine at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP. No Safety Car or red flag came to salvage his day.
“Yeah, at some point I thought it was snowing in Madrid. But in the end, I was ice driving.
“I remember the good pace in the middle of the race. We lost 15 seconds with the VSC compared to the other runners. I think we were pulling out a second to a second per lap, so the pace was very, very strong.
“It’s just a shame we couldn’t translate it into points.”
Qualifying difficulties
Pierre Gasly started the race in P14 after Saturday’s Qualifying. His first attempt in Q2 was disrupted when double yellows were brought out as his teammate had a big scare in La Monumental. The 2020 Italian GP winner’s final attempt wasn’t enough to get him through the Q3, ending up 0.7s slower than Colapinto.
“I think yesterday we got the run really wrong in Quali.
“We didn’t get a first try because we had a double yellow flag in turn 12. And then on the last run I think we just got it wrong with the tyres and had no grip. So yeah, it’s definitely something to look back on.”
