BWT Alpine Formula One Team left the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with twelve points, a double top-ten finish, and a sense of quiet pride that has been rare to find in the early stages of the 2026 season: the satisfaction of playing it right when everyone else was rolling the dice. In a single day — morning qualifying followed by an afternoon race — the Enstone-based outfit proved that strategic intelligence can make the difference where outright pace falls short.

Montreal rewrites the script: BWT Alpine Formula One Team fires back on the Banks of the St. Lawrence

Sunday’s backdrop in Montreal carried a particular charge. Damp patches lingered across sections of the track after a wet night on Île Notre-Dame. In the paddock corridors, mechanics watched the sky while engineers recalibrated their models. It was in this atmosphere of uncertainty that Grand Prix qualifying opened — and Franco Colapinto, for his part, has never needed certainty to perform.

BWT Alpine Formula One Team: two qualifying Runs, two different stories

The Argentine driver delivered another high-calibre session, claiming his place in Q3 for the second consecutive race weekend with a time of 1:13.697. The performance carried extra weight given that he had approached the weekend with a near-blank Friday, the first practice session having been largely disrupted. Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, was eliminated in Q2, lining up fourteenth with a time of 1:14.187 on an Alpine A526 with which he continues to search for the right setup window. The Frenchman made no secret of his difficulties with the car — but he also knew the race is won differently than the grid.

That is precisely where the script was about to flip.

The medium tyre gamble: when conviction becomes competitive advantage

At the start, BWT Alpine Formula One Team played a card most teams declined to touch: both A526s rolled off the line on fresh medium compounds while the majority of the field opted for softs, chasing the explosive opening laps that Montreal rewards. The logic behind the Alpine call was straightforward but demanding to sustain — mediums degrade more predictably, reduce the risk of an additional unscheduled stop, and offer a cleaner path through a race where track conditions remained a wild card.

Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) failed to get away cleanly due to a clutch issue, forcing an additional formation lap that reshuffled tyre temperatures across the entire field. It was a precarious moment for the medium runners — the compound needs heat to perform, and an extended crawl around the circuit doesn’t help. BWT Alpine Formula One Team held its line.

The opening laps were gritty. Franco Colapinto slotted into tenth, Pierre Gasly into fourteenth. The mediums were cold, grip was scarce, and traffic was dense. But lap after lap, the strategy began to pay dividends. The softs ahead began to fade, positions changed hands, and both Alpines kept moving forward.

Lap 30: the virtual safety car that changed everything

The race’s defining moment arrived at lap thirty. George Russell, who had taken pole position for Mercedes, was forced to retire with a power unit failure — a brutal twist that triggered a Virtual Safety Car. BWT Alpine Formula One Team seized the opportunity to bring both cars in under optimal conditions, fit fresh hard compounds, and rejoin in a configuration perfectly suited to managing the remaining 38 laps.

Franco Colapinto executed his stop without hesitation. Exiting the pit lane, he brushed against danger: a residual damp patch, a bite on the white line, and the car darted towards the wall. He clipped it sideways, absorbed minor damage, and rejoined without any impact on performance. The composure the Argentine showed in that moment speaks volumes about his development as a racing driver.

Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, managed two time penalties absorbed during the race itself — sanctions served on track without any additional stop required. His recovery from fourteenth on the grid to eighth at the flag owed as much to cold-blooded race management as to outright fighting spirit. In the closing laps, his battle with Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) for seventh ultimately resolved in the Racing Bulls driver’s favour — but eighth place and four points represent a result few would have predicted from his starting position.

BWT Alpine Formula One Team: twelve points and fifth in the Constructors’ Championship reinforced

The finish line delivered a rare sight in 2026: two Alpines inside the top ten — Franco Colapinto sixth in 1:28:35.268 (67 laps), Pierre Gasly eighth in 1:28:50.330. Twelve points on the board. The best single-weekend haul for the team on a Sprint weekend this season, and a career-best result for Colapinto, who is building on the momentum first shown in Miami.

For BWT Alpine Formula One Team, fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship — the coveted “best of the rest” position — is a little more secure tonight. It is a position the team defends with the tools it has: consistency, race-reading, and engineering work done quietly in the paddock shadows.

There is still ground to cover before Monaco. Both drivers are sharing similar feedback on the car, flagging performance windows to find and settings to refine. But Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has served as a reminder of one of Formula 1’s most enduring truths: the greatest results are often born from patience, not impatience.

They Said

Pierre Gasly – P8

“It’s a good overall result and some valuable points for the championship. My personal goal was mainly to limit the damage after a complicated start to the weekend. I fought back to eighth and finished in the points.

Generally speaking, I still faced some difficulties with the car and we need to understand why and fix some issues. There is a lot of work ahead to get it back in a good window, and that is our target before Monaco. Today, we had a tricky start on the mediums, which were quite cold and had limited grip in the early laps.

We eventually recovered some positions before fighting with Liam [Lawson] towards the end of the race. It was hard to find an opening and we had to settle for eighth. I’m looking forward to Monaco now. It is my favourite race of the year, so I’m hoping we can iron out some weaknesses and go there with more confidence and performance.”

Franco Colapinto – P6

“Given how our weekend started, getting both cars in the points is a great result and a fantastic reward for everyone working so hard in the team. I’m incredibly proud of the work we did and it was a great team performance today.

It is also my best result in Formula 1, which makes me very happy and confirms the performances we showed in Miami. We know we benefited from some competitors’ misfortunes, which is never nice, but we maximised everything we could and brought the car home. The grip was extremely low and the track was slippery, especially in the opening laps on a harder compound than our rivals.

I also had a scare coming out of the pits. I hit a damp patch, caught the white line and went towards the wall. I clipped it sideways and fortunately got away with minimal damage, which required no repairs and didn’t affect our performance. We know there is still work to do to be more competitive, extract more performance from the car and consistently close the gap to the leading teams.”

Flavio Briatore – Executive Advisor

“Congratulations to the whole team for this result, which brings us twelve points. We implemented a good strategy, the drivers did an excellent job on track and we consolidate our fifth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

We had a tough Friday but the team worked hard to understand certain aspects of the car and we ultimately leave with a positive result. I’m delighted for Franco, who takes his best Formula 1 result with that sixth place. Well done to him for his efforts.

On Pierre’s side, it’s a great comeback from fourteenth on the grid. There is a lot of work ahead to improve our competitiveness. The drivers continue to share similar feedback on the car and there is still a lot of performance to unlock before Monaco.”

Performance Table – 2026 Canadian Grand Prix

Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve delivered a weekend of two distinct halves for BWT Alpine Formula One Team: a laboured Friday, a building Saturday, and a Sunday that fully justified the effort invested. Below is the complete performance summary for Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly across Sunday’s sessions.

Fastest lap in race: Pierre Gasly – 1:15.390 / Franco Colapinto – 1:15.462  Strategy: both cars started on fresh medium tyres, pitted on lap 30 for fresh hard compounds.

Source: BWT Alpine Formula One Team