Franco Colapinto will start Saturday's Sprint at the Miami International Autodrome from P8 after giving Alpine a much-needed lift in Miami, where Pierre Gasly qualified 10th and will line up alongside him in the top 10.
The result matched Colapinto’s best-ever qualifying performance in any format and, more importantly for Alpine, put both cars inside the top 10 ahead of a Grand Prix or Sprint for the first time this season. Colapinto said the team had turned around a difficult start after a problem with his A526 in Friday’s sole practice session, and he credited the new upgrades Alpine brought to Miami for helping unlock more pace.
“I’m happy because we turned around something that was quite tough and it took us a while to understand,” Colapinto said. “We are finally getting in the rhythm and understanding some of the pace that we lacked.” He added that it had been a good break for the team to reset and work in the right direction, saying he was pleased with the performance but that it was only the start of the weekend. On a circuit he knows, he said Alpine’s pace looked strong against the midfield cars.
For Alpine, the timing matters. The team had only one double-points finish before Miami this season, at the Chinese Grand Prix, and it sits joint fifth in the Teams’ standings. A strong showing in Saturday’s Sprint would give the outfit a clearer read on whether the upgrades have moved it closer to the front of the midfield, not just over one lap but over race distance as well.
Gasly’s side of the garage told a less comfortable story. The French driver said it had been very difficult since Friday morning, with something not quite working on his side and a lot of wheelspin affecting the car. He said the team did not have enough time to get to the bottom of the problem after Sprint qualifying, and warned that he expected to struggle in the race unless Alpine could improve it overnight. Even so, Gasly’s P10 kept his run of points finishes intact in all three Grands Prix this season, a reminder that Alpine still has more to find if it wants to turn flashes of speed into a sustained run of results.
The spread between the two cars leaves Alpine with reason for optimism and a clear problem to solve. Colapinto has momentum. Gasly has the evidence that something is off. Miami offered the team its best combined qualifying result of the year, but the next step is whether that speed can survive when the Sprint begins.