Alpine driver Pierre Gasly left the 2026 F1 Singapore GP disappointed after a strong qualifying result failed to deliver points. The Frenchman identified a lack of traction as the A526’s most significant weakness. He explained that the car stepped sideways whenever he applied the throttle, leading to losing lap time each tour, particularly as a stint went on.
Gasly started 8th at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but finished 11th, one position outside the points. He suffered from a poor start, rapid tyre overheating and a lack of traction. As a result, he was unable to defend against George Russell and Isack Hadjar. Both of them recovered through the field.
Pierre Gasly on a difficult 2026 F1 Singapore GP start
Earlier in the weekend, Gasly had highlighted Alpine’s difficulty in converting strong grid positions into points. That challenge resurfaced as soon as the race began. The Frenchman lost two positions to Lawson and Hülkenberg in Turns 1 and 2.
“No, I mean, we lost the position at the start. We had no power out of the line, so we need to review, because this year we’ve had really good starts,” he said.
Tyre overheating exposes Alpine’s limitations in 2026
Marina Bay’s low-speed corners and demanding traction zones exposed the A526 far more in the race than in qualifying. Specifically, Gasly explained that the difference lay in tyre temperature.
“[With] a lot of low speed, a lot of traction, we just ran out of tyres after three laps. You know, in quali, you have cold tyres. Over one lap, they don’t have time to heat up so much,” he said.
He added that the car felt competitive on new tyres. However, its performance deteriorated within a matter of laps. In the second stint in particular, he really dropped away from the Racing Bulls and Audi men.
“In the race, out of the box, it feels good. One lap, two laps, third lap, our tyres are over the roof and we have no traction. So yeah, you know, it’s a limitation of the car.”
Unable to defend against Russell and Hadjar in F1 Singapore GP
Russell started from the back of the grid following engine penalties, while Hadjar started from the pit lane. Despite this, they recovered to finish ninth and tenth respectively.
Gasly was asked whether he had hoped to keep the Mercedes and the Red Bull behind. He said the car’s handling made that impossible.
“Again, our problem is I can’t get out of any corner. You know, it’s one thing to be slow, but if you can actually get out of the corner with reasonable speed, you can keep them behind. The problem is I’m sideways every time I touch the throttle,” he said.
In the first stint, his pace was comparable to that of Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg, who finished P8. However, he was unable to capitalise on it due to the traction problems.
“Even I felt a tiny bit faster than Nico at times, but I just can’t get out of the corner. Anytime I go on power, I’m sideways, I’m losing a bit of ground and then I can’t make it up later in the straight.”
