The 2026 F1 Austrian GP was one to forget for Alpine, with both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto struggling to extract pace out of an upgraded A526.
Gasly, who had started the 2026 F1 Austrian GP in P11, had his race compromised by a bad start and ultimately finished the race in P13.
This is the first race of the 2026 F1 season in which the Frenchman failed to score a point, breaking an impressive streak for the 30-year-old. He reflected on the difficult weekend and stated that it was the “toughest Sunday of the season by far”.
Gasly looks back on tough 2026 F1 Austrian GP
In the opening laps of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP, Pierre Gasly lost two positions to Ocon and Bortoleto after an initial slow start and early power unit issues, and was unable to recover any, taking the chequered flag in P13.
The Frenchman shared that the two main challenges his Alpine faced at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP were balance and severe tyre degradation.
Alpine were the only team other than Ferrari to do a three-stop, which resulted in significant time loss compared to the rest of the grid. Despite catching Nico Hülkenberg at the end, he could not pass him.
“Yeah, honestly, toughest Sunday of the season by far. It felt extremely difficult out there in terms of grip, the balance, extremely hard like this too. It was a bit all over the place in terms of car balance and a lot of degradation. I had to do three starts because my tyres were falling apart in no time.”
Gasly added that his A526 faced significant technical issues during the 2026 F1 Austrian GP that they had not had prior.
The Frenchman plans to study the data with Alpine to understand why they struggled at the Red Bull Ring in preparation for the British GP.
“Very different to every race we’ve had so far this season. And yeah, there’s quite a lot for us to understand. Unfortunately, not much time before Silverstone, but definitely a lot to understand.”
Gasly shares how Alpine F1 struggled at the Red Bull Ring
The 30-year-old then explained his struggles in the opening laps of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP that resulted in his slow start. He highlighted the lack of pace and balance in the A526, something Gasly plans to discuss with Alpine.
The Frenchman also pointed out that Alpine appeared to struggle with tyre degradation more compared to their rivals, an unusual theme so far.
“I mean, it didn’t start the best way with having no power in the first lap on the straights. I don’t know what happened, but I just got past, and we were lacking, I don’t know how many horsepower, but we lost two or three positions to start, then after in traffic.
“But then ultimately, even in free air, we didn’t have the pace and a lot more degradation than anyone else. To me, it’s very clear what’s missing in the car in terms of car balance, in terms of feedback.
“It’s very precise, so I know the team will be able to look at where we’re missing. Now, obviously, we need to find answers and be able to react for Silverstone, which is a sprint race. But it won’t give us a lot of time.”
Alpine had high expectations ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP weekend
Despite the poor performance and high temperatures in Austria, prior to the weekend, Gasly believed the team would be able to replicate their success in Barcelona.
At the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, both Gasly and Colapinto had finished in the points in P9 and P10, respectively. It was a race in warm tyres and also featured high tyre wear.
The Frenchman was even confident that Alpine would be able to outperform the Racing Bulls. However, they got into the points, with Lawson and Lindblad finishing in P9 and P10, respectively.
“Because we were good in Barcelona on Sunday and it was really warm out there, I thought today would actually be playing in our favour compared to the VCARB. We have no traction, wheelspin a lot compared to any other car. Yeah, a lot for us to work on.”
Alpine made several set-up changes, but it was not enough
Ahead of the 2026 F1 Austrian GP, Alpine had brought a major upgrade package to the Red Bull Ring that included a heavily redesigned front wing.
The 2020 Italian GP winner shared that the upgrades may have resulted in the imbalance felt throughout the weekend in Austria.
Gasly added that Alpine had tried to counter the effects by adjusting the set-up multiple times ahead of qualifying; however, he ultimately still faced significant balance issues with his A526 during the 2026 F1 Austrian GP.
Nonetheless, he is confident the team will be able to maximise the upgrades in due time.
“For sure, there is more for us to understand about exactly what the parts are providing and how to rebalance around it. I think already from FP1 to the quali, we’ve made quite a lot of changes compared to the normal set-up we’re running. We sort of held that, but it was clearly not enough.
“I think at the moment only time can help us, and just try to improve our understanding of what exactly all these new parts are doing.”
