Pierre Gasly and Alpine are “trying to stick together as a team” before the F1 Mexico City GP following a team orders debacle in Austin.
Alpine F1 driver, Pierre Gasly, is looking to move past the team order controversy that unfolded in Austin. During the final laps of the US Grand Prix, teammate Franco Colapinto ignored instructions from the pit wall to hold position behind Gasly.
Colapinto ignored team orders by overtaking Gasly on Turn 1 of the penultimate lap for P17. When asked about the situation ahead of the Mexico City GP in a print media ssssion, Gasly answered, “We talked about it. Just no point to talk about it here. What’s had to be said has been said.
“It’s difficult to still understand why [it happened], but ultimately, as a team, we are not in an enjoyable situation. So I think we just trying to stick together as a team, be united, and that’s what we just want to achieve.”
Even with what happened between teammates in Austin, Gasly is more focused on the efficiency of the pit crew. The Frenchman spent 26.631 seconds total time in pit lane during his only pit stop on Lap 27 of 56 of the US Grand Prix, losing around 3s due to a slow left fromt. Gasly is more concerned about not copying Austins pit stop time in Mexico City.
“For me, I’m more interested in making sure that we don’t have a 3-second pit stop and 10 seconds of race time we’ve lost on that second stint. In the first place, which we should have never ended up with such a situation. So I think we reviewed everything, it’s all clear. Unfortunate what happened during the pit stop, it cost us quite a lot being in the gearbox of Esteban Ocon that stint.
“10-15 degrees of tyre temperature and I think that’s more what’s important to work on for the coming races.”
Colapinto’s future
Irrespective of what happened in Austin, Gasly thinks his teammate has “done well” during his time with Alpine F1 ahead of Mexico City. However, Gasly highlighted the importance of drivers to “pull forward in the same direction as a team”.
“I think overall as an individual he’s done well and that’s it. Obviously, what he’s done last week or last Sunday doesn’t reflect what he’s achieved as a driver. Was it his finest decision? No. Will he learn from it? Yes.
“But the nice thing overall is he’s doing a good job for the team. I think it’s important just to pull forward in the same direction as a team and this is what we need to do, especially in the times we are currently in.“
Qualifying expectation
Alpine F1 has not finished in the points in the last six races. Last year, Gasly found himself in Q3 around here. This year, getting into Q2 “was a great achievement“. With only five races left in the season, Alpine drivers have to extract what they can, especially in Mexico City.
“We’ve had the same car pretty much since Barcelona and I think the tendency is quite clear that we’re more towards the back and the best thing we can do to help ourselves is just to get every single millisecond out of the package and kind of hope that some others don’t quite get it right.“
The 29-year-old understands the restrictions of Alpine’s current package, however, Gasly is committed to try to make is into Q3.
“We managed to get both cars in Q2 last week, which I think was a great achievement. Looking at the performance from the last few weekends, I think as a target that’s where we should be focussing on.
“Would I like to be in Q3? Hell yeah. Can we objectively achieve it on pure pace? No. Are we going to try to make it happen? Yes.”
Looking ahead instead behind
With 2026 looming, Gasly focuses on the races ahead, like Mexico City, rather than dwelling on past performances. Focusing on the team and moving through the weeks for Gasly is “the key”.
“I’m more focussing on what we’re going to do as a team, more in the process rather than the outcome because whatever outcome we have is not going to be satisfying for us as a team. In the bigger picture, we know in three months’ time we’ll try the 2026 car, but before that we’ve got five races and I just want to see from us as a team that the process we are going through throughout the whole weekend is as perfect as it can be. That’s the key.“
