Pierre Gasly Faces Alpine Teammate Call After Briatore’s 7-Tenths Gap
Flavio Briatore said pierre gasly’s future teammate will not be decided until Alpine fixes a car and process deficit he believes no driver can hide. He said the team is still six, seven tenths behind, even after five race weekends and despite sitting fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 35 points.
Briatore Sets Alpine’s Priority
Briatore was blunt about the scale of the problem. “Even Max Verstappen can't make up seven, eight tenths behind difference,” he said, adding that Alpine has to sharpen the car and the team’s process, including pit stops, before he gives serious thought to the driver lineup.
He was even more direct about the package itself. “We are better, but I’m not happy in the way we are in this moment, because we [should have done] much better with what we have,” Briatore said. Alpine is still measuring itself against McLaren and Mercedes, both on the same engine supply, and he said the gap is too large to solve by switching drivers alone.
Gasly, Colapinto, and 2028
The driver picture is already partly set. Gasly signed a three-year contract extension last season covering 2026 to 2028, while Alpine took up its option on Franco Colapinto for this year’s championship. Colapinto is not guaranteed a seat for next season, so the unresolved slot is the one alongside Gasly.
Briatore made the order of operations plain. “Driver is less improving the package, after the driver. We have the contract with Pierre. We need looking at Colapinto,” he said. “But the car is much more important in this moment.”
Qualifying Gap to McLaren
The numbers back up why Alpine is treating the car as the first problem. In the last two Grand Prix qualifying sessions in Miami and Canada, the fastest Alpine driver was on average seven-tenths down on the lead McLaren driver, and Alpine’s drivers have yet to beat McLaren in qualifying.
That leaves Briatore trying to solve a performance issue before he makes a roster call. Gasly is already tied down through 2028, Colapinto’s future is open, and Alpine’s current pace says the car has to move first if the team wants the second seat to be judged on anything close to equal terms.
