Overview

• Franco Colapinto hit the wall on his final Q1 run after briefly rising to P10, ending his session early and confirming a P16 start as teammate Pierre Gasly also exited in Q1.
• After a difficult Friday of P19 in FP1 and P20 in FP2, Colapinto showed progress with P15 in FP3 before qualifying unraveled.
• Colapinto said Alpine is “very, very far” from the pace and struggling to find balance on the street circuit, citing the car’s behavior over bumps and in slow sections.
• Alpine ran a low-downforce compromise that boosted top speed — Colapinto topped the speed trap at 328.9 km/h — but left the car unstable in technical sectors.
• Flavio Briatore reiterated that Alpine’s 2026 second seat will be decided between Colapinto and Paul Aron as the team focuses resources on its 2026 program.