BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Pierre Gasly, from dream pole to reality check, Franco Colapinto denied a podium at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix

A historic pole position on Saturday, a seventh and a ninth place on Sunday: Monza handed the BWT Alpine Formula One Team its most mixed weekend of the season.

Pierre Gasly claimed the first pole position of his career on Saturday, the first for the Enstone squad under the Alpine name and the team’s first in seventeen years. Twenty-four hours later, the Frenchman crossed the line in seventh, with Franco Colapinto ninth after an off-track excursion cost him a genuine shot at the podium. In between came a qualifying lap for the history books, and a race that confirmed the A526 remains, over race distance, a midfield car.

BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Friday – Free Practice 1 & Free Practice 2

Paul Aron took over Pierre Gasly’s seat for Free Practice 1, a regulatory requirement tied to the young driver programme rather than a sporting decision. The session carried extra significance, with Estonia’s president in the paddock to watch his compatriot on track. Out on circuit, a red flag broke up the running and cost Franco Colapinto his two flying laps on soft tyres.

Colapinto still set the ninth-fastest time, a 1’24.028, with Aron tenth in 1’24.177. A tight margin that gave little away about the real pecking order on a track where traffic often matters more than outright pace.

Gasly returned to his car for Free Practice 2, where his 14th-fastest time, a 1’23.773, told little of substance. The Frenchman felt the fight for a top-ten spot would be especially tight at Monza, with the margins between teams looking razor-thin on this layout.

Colapinto rounded out the second session in 11th, in 1’23.619, with a noticeable lack of grip at the apex of several corners — a trait that could just as easily point to a still-provisional setup as to rising track temperatures through the afternoon.

The day wasn’t only about lap times. The FIA’s International Court of Appeal confirmed on Friday that Gasly’s Monaco podium was gone for good, reinstating the two five-second penalties originally handed to the driver for exceeding the pit lane speed limit, following an appeal brought by McLaren and Red Bull. His only podium of the season disappears from the record books, just hours before a session that gave away nothing spectacular of its own.

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

Saturday morning changed nothing: Gasly ninth in 1’22.898, Colapinto tenth in 1’23.101. Then qualifying began, and the established order started to wobble.

The top ten was covered by less than two tenths, and track position for a tow proved decisive. Russell had gone provisionally fastest in Q3 before Gasly pulled out his final attempt, benefiting along the way from a slipstream off Lewis Hamilton.

Gasly fired in a 1’21.786 on his last lap, beating Russell by six hundredths of a second. The pole came in his 190th race, six years on from his sole career win — achieved, fittingly, at Monza too, in AlphaTauri colours. He becomes the first Frenchman to take pole since Jean Alesi, for Benetton, on this same circuit back in 1997.

Colapinto, meanwhile, posted the eighth-fastest time in 1’22.220, his best qualifying result in Formula 1, before being promoted to seventh on the grid thanks to the engine penalty handed to Antonelli, who dropped to the back of the field. Piastri, for his part, took a three-place grid penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in Q2. Ferrari’s earlier pace had also evaporated by Q3, with Leclerc and Hamilton benefiting from that drop to lock out the second row.

The result didn’t sit well with everyone in the paddock, though. Mercedes had lined Antonelli up ahead of Russell to give him a tow, the Italian sacrificing his own session since he was starting from the back of the grid regardless. But Verstappen, leading the group out of the pits, deliberately slowed on the approach to Parabolica to avoid being the lead car — a tactical move that bunched up Antonelli and Russell behind him and compromised the Briton’s first sector.

On pure execution, there was no arguing with Gasly’s lap. What remained an open question, already hanging over the paddock on Saturday evening, was whether that pace could hold over race distance — a question that would find its answer the following day.

BWT Alpine Formula One Team – Sunday – Race

Both Alpines start on new medium tyres, Gasly from pole and Colapinto from seventh. On the opening lap, Hamilton dives down the inside of Leclerc into the first chicane; the two Ferraris run side by side before Hamilton is squeezed wide onto the gravel at the exit, losing several places. A lap later, Russell capitalises on the chaos to pass Gasly for the lead.

Leclerc, who had briefly retaken second from Gasly before being repassed, then loses the place to Verstappen through the Ascari chicane. On lap two, defending fourth from Piastri into Parabolica, he loses the rear of the car with no contact involved and spears heavily into the barriers. The safety car, then a red flag, halt the race by the end of lap three. Taking advantage of the reshuffle, Colapinto climbs to fourth by the time the clocks stop.

The red flag gives both Alpines a free change onto new hard tyres during that third lap, reshuffling the strategic picture ahead of the restart. A first attempt to get the race going again is then aborted after Tsunoda fails to line up correctly on his grid slot, forcing a third formation lap.

At the restart, Russell holds the lead ahead of Gasly. Colapinto passes Verstappen to move up into third — only for the Dutchman to retake the place around the outside at the Variante della Roggia. Moments later, at Turn 6, the first Lesmo, the Argentine loses the car while running close behind Verstappen, runs deep through the gravel and just avoids the wall. The handling of the car is noticeably altered afterwards, likely evidence of floor damage.

Some perspective is needed here: the A526 was never going to have podium pace over race distance. Gasly, who started from pole and made no mistakes of his own, finished seventh, the best of the chasing pack behind the four leading teams — a clean race from fourth would likely have put Colapinto in similar territory.

Gasly also lost ground, if more gradually. Verstappen retakes second from him as early as lap seven; Hamilton, Piastri and Antonelli then come through one after another, with the Alpine no longer able to match the pace of the front-runners. Isolated in his own no man’s land, he trades places briefly with Lando Norris before holding seventh to the flag, three seconds behind Hamilton.

The win itself was decided by a strategy call with nothing to do with the Alpine fight. Under a Virtual Safety Car on lap 28, triggered by Lance Stroll’s retirement, Antonelli pits for fresh medium tyres while Russell stays out on his ageing hards. The gap closes steadily, and Antonelli passes his teammate with three laps to go to take the win — becoming the first Italian driver to win his home Grand Prix since 1966. Colapinto, meanwhile, patiently rebuilds his race to finish ninth.

Across the whole race, the gap between the two Alpines came down to six thousandths of a second on their respective best laps — 1’24.927 for Gasly, 1’24.933 for Colapinto — a closeness on the stopwatch that says plenty about how their intra-team battle played out on Sunday.

Pierre Gasly – 7th

That was an incredible weekend. We can honestly all be really pleased with what we’ve achieved. Finishing seventh, best of the rest and leading the chasing pack, is a great result. Of course we wanted more, but we also have to be realistic.

This was probably the best we could have achieved with what we currently have, so I’m happy. We all dreamed a little after yesterday, but today we had to come back down to earth! I got two good starts and led a lap, so that was exactly what we wanted. After that the others came back at me and I had a fight with Lando [Norris], who’s won the last two races, before finishing three seconds behind Lewis [Hamilton], who’s also been very strong recently.

There’s a lot of positives to take away and moments I’ll remember for a long time. We’ll go through it all with the team, bank these valuable points in the championship fight, then turn our attention to a brand-new circuit next weekend in Madrid.

Franco Colapinto – 9th

After a race like today’s, with everything that happened and where we ended up, it’s hard not to feel frustrated. I’m frustrated with myself, because the result could have been much better, and I’m sorry for the team.

We got off to a good start, gained several places and were even running fourth at the second start after the red flag. As a driver, fighting for positions like that gives you an extra shot of adrenaline and motivation. You always want more, and you really don’t want to let those places slip away. I was following Max [Verstappen] closely before losing the car on the way into Turn 6.

I ended up deep in the gravel, but thankfully we avoided the wall. Unfortunately the car handled differently after that, so we probably picked up some floor damage. After that, I just tried to refocus and get some points on the board for the team. I’m disappointed with my performance right now, but with a bit of hindsight, I hope I can call it a good recovery drive.

Flavio Briatore – Executive Director

It was a positive weekend for the team, starting with yesterday’s pole position and some good points on the board. We’ve closed the gap to Racing Bulls in the championship, and the upgrades we’ve brought over the last few races have put us in a more competitive position to fight on track.

We were realistic about what we could achieve today, and the final result is a fair reflection of our pace over a Grand Prix distance. Both drivers did a fantastic job all weekend. It was wonderful that Pierre could share that moment with the team on Saturday, and Franco produced a brilliant drive to fight back and score valuable points for the team.

Results – Full weekend

From the weekend’s opening pole position to the final recovery drive, here are the complete lap times and positions for the BWT Alpine Formula One Team at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix.

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