Alpine experienced a day of contrasts on Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix in Formula 1, with Franco Colapinto securing a spot in Q3 while Pierre Gasly once again faced difficulties with the car. The team believes that the forecasted rain for Sunday could open up important opportunities in the race in Montreal.
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Colapinto finished the Sprint race in ninth place and came close to the points zone after starting 13th. In the qualifying session for the GP, the Argentine put Alpine into Q3 and secured tenth place on the grid, a result that boosted the team’s confidence for the main race.
“It was a good day and, overall, a solid Saturday, with positive points to take from the Sprint and qualifying,” said Colapinto. The driver highlighted that the pace was much better than the previous day and assessed that the team managed to fight for positions with the cars around during the Sprint.
The Argentine also admitted frustration at being close to the final point in the Sprint, behind Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls. Still, he considered that tenth place on the grid was probably the best possible result given the performance shown by the competitors on Saturday.
On the other side of the garage, Gasly finished the Sprint last and was eliminated in Q2, ending up only 14th on the grid. The Frenchman acknowledged that he still cannot feel comfortable with the car and revealed that the team made changes before the Sprint to try to understand the lack of performance.
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“Again, it’s not the final result we expected coming out of Q2 in P14,” said Gasly. The French driver stated that Alpine’s expectations are higher and emphasized that Colapinto’s performance shows that the package has potential for more competitive results.
Steve Nielsen, the team director, assessed that the French team managed to improve compared to Friday and praised Colapinto’s work throughout Saturday. The manager also revealed that Gasly suffered damage to the floor after hitting a marmot in Q1, a problem that affected the car’s drivability for the rest of the qualifying session.
With heavy rain forecast for Sunday, Alpine believes the race scenario could change completely. The team hopes to take advantage of the unpredictable conditions to fight for points with both cars at the Canadian GP.
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