The F1 Austrian GP was a tale of what might have been for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman started brightly at the Red Bull Ring, but a promising opening quickly unravelled into a frustrating Sunday, leaving Alpine without points and Gasly lamenting what he called a “very disappointing” result.
Gasly lined up 10th on the grid after a mixed qualifying session. Despite making it into Q3, his final run ended with a wild double spin at the final corner. Though it hampered other drivers’ flying laps, including Max Verstappen’s, Gasly’s earlier effort of was enough to secure a spot in the top ten.
Come race day, the 28-year-old made a lightning start on used soft tyres. He capitalised on chaos ahead, climbing four places to P6 by the end of the first lap. It was a dream start in a midfield fight that’s been brutal all year.
“Yeah, it’s a shame the race wasn’t one lap long,” Gasly said after the race during the print media sessions.
“In terms of power, it was a good start, looking good, and then after that we got some damage for pretty much the biggest part of the race, so we were just nowhere and there wasn’t much to do. So we tried to stick on track, and every corner was extremely tough. It’s unfortunate.”
His strong getaway positioned him just behind George Russell, and it looked like Alpine could be in for a solid haul of points. But that glimmer quickly faded. Gasly began to drop back, and it wasn’t long before Alex Albon breezed past him for sixth.
A pit stop on lap 12 for hard tyres didn’t do the trick either. Nor did the second one for mediums on lap 38.
Alpine’s tyre degradation woes hampered Gasly’s race
The Frenchman confirmed that the trouble began soon after the first stop. He said, “Yeah, there was some medium, probably a bit of an advantage. We were on a used soft, but then yeah, ultimately it was normal. But then after that, it was just not the same at all.”
While there was speculation of damage to the A524, nothing was confirmed by Alpine during the race. The car simply lacked pace and grip across all compounds.
When pressed about whether something had broken and ruined the car’s balance, Gasly wryly replied:
“That’s a kind way of saying it.”
The team’s poor tyre degradation performance, which has been a recurring issue in 2025, again came under the spotlight. While rivals pulled off impressive one-stop strategies, Alpine faltered.
When probed about the missed potential, Gasly commented: “I think it’s hard to say”
He added, “I think at the moment, looking at the stake, they’re extremely competitive in terms of degradation. I think we are not in the best spot, so when I see some guys doing one stop, it’s quite impressive. And yeah, I mean, we know we got work to do on Sunday. How much exactly is difficult to say. You need to check with the guys exactly.”
He eventually crossed the line 13th, a lap down on race winner Lando Norris, while teammate Franco Colapinto had a messy outing of his own. For a team trying to claw its way back into midfield relevance, it was a painful outing.
Gasly plans to get his elbows out in the coming races
Looking ahead to the second half of the season, Gasly remained realistic but determined.
“I know the car we got, and we’ll try our best,” he said.
“Today, we put ourselves in the best position after the first lap in sixth behind George, best of the midfield. We need to try to repeat that and put our elbows out and try to defend as hard as we can.”
As F1 heads to Silverstone, Gasly and the Enstone outfit will be hoping to score decent points and lift themselves off the back of the grid in the standings. Gasly has had a difficult weekend in Silverstone in the last couple of seasons and will be hoping to end this streak this time around.
