Pierre Gasly relieved after eighth place in Spain

Pierre Gasly finished eighth in Spain, adding valuable points to Alpine’s tally in a very tight battle in the constructors’ championship. But while the Frenchman could breathe a sigh of relief, Franco Colapinto had a much more complicated race in Barcelona.

A top 10 for Pierre Gasly

Started in the top 10, Pierre Gasly and Alpine hoped for a good result on Sunday. They had to battle with varied strategies and the intervention of a safety car at the end of the race. Pierre Gasly was then on medium tires, and Alpine made the right decision by switching him quickly to soft tires.

This allowed him to defend until the end, even if he ran out of time to attack Isack Hadjar ahead of him. He crossed the line in ninth position, before claiming eighth place after a penalty was handed to Max Verstappen. « It was a more difficult Sunday for us, but in the end, it’s a good result to have scored points today », said the Frenchman.

The start of the season has been complicated, with a grueling triple race in recent weeks. After Monaco, we knew we had to bounce back here in Barcelona. The qualifying was very good, but we struggle on Sundays. There are quite a few things to review from today’s race. I was quite relieved to see the Safety Car at the end of the race, and the team made the right decision to allow me to get new tires.

Alpine drops in the constructors’ standings

Despite the points scored by Pierre Gasly, Alpine has dropped to 10th place in the championship, surpassed by Sauber thanks to Nico Hülkenberg’s superb 5th place.

As for Franco Colapinto, starting last on the grid, he managed to climb up to 15th place, gaining experience, but he admitted that the race had been disappointing.

« It was a complicated afternoon and a difficult race. We had a better pace today than earlier in the weekend, which is positive. But it’s a circuit where it’s difficult to overtake, so it wasn’t easy to make progress », the Argentinian explained.

« The tires suffered a lot in the dirty air, which made things even more complicated. It shows how crucial track position is. I know I still need to improve on this point, especially in qualifying, to better exploit the car with low fuel », he concluded.