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BWT Alpine Formula One Team left Friday at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix with mixed emotions. The raw result brought a smile: two Alpine A526 cars through to SQ3 on a Sprint weekend that always gives teams little room to breathe. But behind that flattering statistic, the day told two very different stories inside the French team’s garages.
On the Miami International Autodrome, the French single-seater confirmed it could operate near the sharp end of the midfield. Yet while Franco Colapinto steadily built confidence, Pierre Gasly spent his day trying to understand a car balance that never quite came to him.
In Miami, a fast car is not enough. The trick is getting it into the right window.
BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Miami leaves no time to adapt
Friday in Florida remains one of the most delicate exercises on the modern calendar. A single practice session, 90 minutes to understand a complex track, then straight into Sprint Qualifying.
No rehearsal. No safety net.
On a still-green track at the start of FP1, BWT Alpine Formula One Team quickly showed encouraging signs.
- Pierre Gasly: 8th in 1’30”587
- Franco Colapinto: 11th in 1’31”015
The pace was tidy rather than spectacular, but stable enough to put Alpine in a useful part of the classification.
The Miami circuit rewards cars that give drivers confidence under braking while keeping strong traction through the slower corners. Between the long straights and tight acceleration zones, every traction weakness shows up immediately.
And very quickly, the two Alpine A526 cars began telling different stories.
Two Alpine A526 cars in SQ3: a result not to be underestimated
Sprint Qualifying confirmed that the potential was real.
Against a hierarchy led by Lando Norris, ahead of Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli, BWT Alpine Formula One Team managed to put both cars inside the top 10.
Final result:
- Franco Colapinto: 8th – 1’29”320
- Pierre Gasly: 10th – 1’29”474
The numbers may look modest. Yet in the context of the 2026 midfield, this double SQ3 appearance carries weight.
No other midfield team managed that feat on Friday.
Against Audi, Haas, Williams and Racing Bulls, Alpine showed a level of consistency rarely seen since the start of the season.
For Franco Colapinto, the result also marks an important step: for the first time in 2026, the Argentine driver outqualified Pierre Gasly.
Same car, opposite sensations for Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto
The timing sheet only tells part of the story.
For Franco Colapinto, progress was visible session after session. The pace arrived gradually, without forcing the issue. As track grip increased, the Argentine seemed increasingly connected to the reactions of the Alpine A526.
The lap-time gains reflected that momentum. Between FP1 and SQ3, Franco Colapinto found nearly seven tenths. Pierre Gasly experienced something very different.
From the opening runs of the morning, Pierre Gasly reported a lack of confidence under acceleration. In Miami, that weakness becomes immediately costly: out of Turn 1, through the middle sector and onto the long back straight.
The main issue identified remained wheelspin. Excessive rear-wheel slip on corner exit unsettles the balance, increases rear tyre wear and prevents the driver from attacking naturally.
During a conventional weekend, three practice sessions allow teams to progressively refine the mechanical setup. In Miami, the Sprint format removes that luxury.
An Alpine A526 still in a phase of understanding
Friday also served as a technical validation day.
BWT Alpine Formula One Team introduced several significant developments:
- new rear wing,
- redesigned endplates,
- rear suspension modifications,
- updated brake ducts,
- aerodynamic refinements around the rear structure.
Some of these components were evaluated primarily on Pierre Gasly’s car to compare behaviour between configurations. The potential is clearly visible.
The Alpine A526 appears more efficient through high-speed sections, particularly in the opening sector of the circuit. Yet a full understanding of the package is still evolving.
Throughout the recent history of Renault F1 Team and Alpine, weekends like this have often served as the starting point for gradual performance gains.
Miami could follow the same pattern.
Pierre Gasly – Sprint Qualifying: 10th
“I am a little disappointed with the final result on my side today. I think there was much more potential in our package if we had a bit more time to correct some of the issues we encountered in practice. From the very first lap of the day, I did not feel entirely comfortable and something was not working properly.
I had a lot of wheelspin and we will obviously look to fix that for tomorrow. That is the nature of Sprint weekends. We only have one session to identify and solve problems before getting into the serious running. Despite that, the fact Franco and I both reached SQ3 is positive for the team and everyone can be pleased about it.
It shows we are capable of being competitive on different circuits and confirms that our package is genuinely in the fight for points. That is our objective this weekend. We will give everything to fix those areas and try to move even higher up the order.”
Franco Colapinto – Sprint Qualifying: 8th
“I am happy with today’s result, but also with the way we achieved it. We managed to turn things around because it was quite difficult earlier in the day and we needed some time to understand the car’s behaviour.
We found improvements and then settled into a rhythm, putting together strong laps while gaining speed and confidence in every session. That is especially important on a Sprint weekend, which is always a demanding challenge. The break was useful to reset and come back on stronger foundations. It is a very positive result for the team, with Pierre and me both in SQ3 while also saving a fresh set of soft tyres for tomorrow.
We worked closely with the engineers during the break to identify where we needed to improve and, hopefully, this is proof that the work is paying off. Our pace looks solid and we hope that continues tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend.”
Steve Nielsen – Managing Director
“It is a real pleasure to be back on track and immediately into the intensity of a Sprint weekend. Naturally, we wanted to continue the momentum from our strong weekend in Japan.
Both cars reached SQ3, which is extremely positive, especially considering that several teams introduced significant upgrades to their cars. Today, we ran the new rear wing on Pierre’s car. We will continue evaluating and developing it, and the day gave us valuable comparison data for some of those new components.
Franco Colapinto delivered a very strong performance on his first appearance in Miami, and we have two cars capable of fighting for points tomorrow, with a fresh set of soft tyres preserved that could potentially be used in the Sprint race.
We will continue working to identify areas where we can gain performance and reduce the gap to the front, but we can be satisfied with this day and with the competitiveness of our package.”
| Session | Pierre Gasly | Franco Colapinto |
|---|---|---|
| Free Practice (FP1) | 8th – 1’30”587 | 11th – 1’31”015 |
| Sprint Qualifying SQ1 | 1’29”984 | 1’30”386 |
| Sprint Qualifying SQ2 | 1’29”973 | 1’29”527 |
| Sprint Qualifying SQ3 | 10th – 1’29”474 | 8th – 1’29”320 |
Saturday will show whether overnight adjustments can shift the internal hierarchy.
Because behind the strong statistic of a double SQ3 appearance lies another reality: BWT Alpine Formula One Team has a competitive car in Miami, but one that remains difficult to fully exploit.
And on weekends like this, a few small details can completely alter the trajectory of a race weekend.
Source: BWT Alpine Formula One Team
