BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Pierre Gasly in Q3, Franco Colapinto on the edge of the top ten: 2026 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying

BWT Alpine Formula One Team leaves this Monaco Saturday with a clear-cut outcome: one A526 in Q3, the other just outside.

Pierre Gasly snatched ninth place in qualifying with a 1’13”226, earning himself a spot in Q3 with a lap right on the limit, brushing the barriers at every apex, while Franco Colapinto, 14th in 1’13”995, missed the top ten by 0.233 seconds — a handful of metres of asphalt that make all the difference in Monaco.

BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Saturday – Free Practice 3 & Qualifying

Thirteenth in 1’14”480, with 22 laps completed and zero incidents: Pierre Gasly went through Free Practice 3 with the methodical approach of a driver who knows exactly what he is looking for. While Kimi Antonelli set the benchmark for Mercedes in 1’12”720, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the Frenchman was steadily refining his feeling with the A526. The rear wing update — additional winglets on the flaps to gain downforce in sector two without sacrificing top speed — was proving more effective from session to session. Compared with Friday’s FP2, where he was 11th in 1’14”497, the progress was tangible, almost visible on the timing screens.

For Franco Colapinto, the morning turned into a puzzle from the opening minutes. A spin at the exit of the Grand Hotel Hairpin sent the number 43 A526 back to the garage — rear wing and suspension to rebuild, twenty minutes lost in the pits. Once back on track, the Argentine never truly recovered his rhythm: 19th in 1’15”179, still haunted by the wheel lock-ups — front, rear, without distinction — that have followed him since Thursday. Added to that was a €900 fine for speeding in the pit lane at 68.9 km/h, anecdotal on paper, but telling of a weekend where nothing has really fallen his way.

Qualifying wasted little time in raising the pressure. Q1 was straightforward for both drivers: Gasly in 1’14”469, Colapinto in 1’14”573. It was in Q2 that Monaco began to play its role as a ruthless judge. Gasly posted a 1’13”762 and slipped into Q3 in the very final seconds — the kind of blow that only drivers able to switch into an almost instinctive state of concentration can land here. Colapinto set a 1’13”995: clean, but not enough. Two tenths and change too many, and Monaco does not negotiate.

In Q3, Gasly delivered the lap expected of him: 1’13”226, ninth place, the best available position for BWT Alpine Formula One Team behind the leading quartet — Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren — that is operating in another dimension this season. It is his best qualifying result of the year on a slow circuit, and one of the rare occasions on which the Enstone team has reached Q3 in Monaco. With 35 points in the Constructors’ Championship after five rounds — already more than across the whole of 2025 — Renault F1 Team’s heir is confirming that the break made with the 2026 regulations and the Mercedes engine is not just a statement of intent.

On Sunday, at 15:00 CEST over 78 laps, Monaco will be Monaco: few overtakes, plenty of waiting, and one or two windows that will decide everything. Gasly, starting ninth, has the cards to score. Colapinto, from 14th, will need the race to offer him something — a well-timed Safety Car, a red flag, a rival falling away. Above all, he will need to get through the first corner intact: in Monaco, a mistake at the start cannot be repaired.

They Said

Pierre Gasly – 9th in Qualifying

I am very happy with this result and I think we could not have done better than ninth today, the best position behind the four leading teams, who are currently out of reach. I was euphoric when I crossed the line, with a real rush of adrenaline after managing that final lap in Q3. I took a lot of risks, brushing the barriers everywhere!

It is a unique feeling when all the pieces of the puzzle come together. We have had to work hard all together to achieve this, because the weekend has not been straightforward so far. This track is always quite particular and we never really feel that the car is perfect. That is the very nature of this circuit, so we tried to change small details in order to improve the overall package.

The team did an excellent job and really worked flat out to put us in a situation where everything ultimately comes down to very small margins. Once in Q3, I gave absolutely everything! We know how important qualifying is here. Even though we expect overtaking to be difficult, I remain open-minded and we will see what the race has in store for us.

Franco Colapinto – 14th in Qualifying

On one hand, I am disappointed with the result, because you always want to start as high up as possible in Monaco, given that it is one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year. On the other hand, I am really proud of the team and of the work done to try to understand our difficulties and identify areas where we can make progress with the car.

We worked late into the night and made good progress compared with yesterday. In the end, we were only missing a few tenths to reach Q3. However, the margins are so tiny on this small circuit that we ended up outside the top ten. We therefore expect a long race on Sunday. I have suffered with front and rear wheel lock-ups since the start of the weekend, and that costs you dearly when your confidence is not optimal to attack at the limit.

The stars simply did not align this week, unlike at the previous rounds. We knew coming here that this was a unique track which might not highlight the strengths of our current package. We will give everything tomorrow, trying to stay out of trouble at the start and take the opportunities that come our way. Anything can happen here, such as race interruptions or red flags, so we will need to be ready to take advantage of them.

Steve Nielsen – Sporting Director, BWT Alpine Formula One Team

First of all, congratulations to Pierre for his impressive performance in qualifying. When the gaps are so small between cars of a similar level, you count on the driver to make the difference, and Pierre was faultless in rising to the occasion today.

He is well placed for tomorrow, where the expected objective is to score points. As a team, we know that this weekend has been full of challenges so far, and some limitations of our package have been accentuated. We spent a lot of time understanding and identifying the areas on which we needed to focus, and making subtle adjustments to maximise our performance. Pierre is clearly more comfortable here than Franco, and that is reflected in the final result.

For Franco, this week is more complicated than the previous ones. He is not yet fully at one with the car, but he did a good job with clean laps in qualifying before missing Q3 by only a few tenths. His efforts and his progress since Friday deserve to be recognised. Tomorrow, we expect a typical Monaco Grand Prix, where we will need to be ready to seize the slightest opportunity that may arise and do our best to run a clean race with both cars.

Results – Free Practice 3 & Qualifying

Find below the full times for BWT Alpine Formula One Team across the two sessions held this Saturday on the Circuit de Monaco.

Source: BWT Alpine Formula One Team / FIA – Official results of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix