Alpine finished Friday at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 at the new Madrid circuit, with Pierre Gasly in 11th and Franco Colapinto in 15th in FP2. The team believes there is still performance to be extracted from the car before the qualifying session on Saturday.
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Gasly had been 14th in FP1, while Colapinto finished the first session in 13th. The Frenchman gave a positive assessment of the track but acknowledged that Alpine needs to improve to be able to fight for positions in the top ten.
“It is always a good challenge to arrive at a new circuit and be fast the first time. I have to say I really liked the track. It is very exciting, it is high speed and provides a real adrenaline rush lap after lap,” said Gasly. According to him, the proximity of the walls demands precision and commitment throughout the lap.
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Colapinto also highlighted the speed of Madring and explained that simulator preparation helped in adapting to the track: “It is certainly an interesting track, very fast throughout its length and definitely one of those where everything needs to work,” assessed the Argentine, who highlighted the work with low and high fuel runs in FP2 to gather data for the rest of the weekend.
Steve Nielsen, in turn, stated that the team focused the first day on learning and adapting to the new circuit. The team principal highlighted that despite simulator preparation, differences such as bumps and car behavior need to be understood on track, while the data pointed to similar limitations in both cars in drivability, behavior over bumps, and traction. Nielsen added that the layout does not favor the characteristics of the Alpine package as it did in Monza, leaving data analysis and car adjustments as priorities for Saturday.
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