For Gasly, what looked like a gamble with Alpine is starting to pay off

Pierre Gasly has had a number of ups and downs in his career. At one point during his junior career he endured a wait of more than two full seasons for a victory – then took three more on his way to securing the GP2 Series title one win was followed by three more as he took the 2016 GP2 Series title.

Then there was the impressive Toro Rosso start, a promotion to Red Bull in 2019, and demotion just 12 races later. But a first podium in Formula 1 came along at the end of that same season, and an emotional first win the following year.

In that context, a tough year with Alpine in 2025 that yielded just 22 points – Gasly scoring the team’s entire total, but still registering his lowest tally in a full season – was a spell he could handle, focusing instead on the promise of better times ahead. And better times have definitely followed.

Heading into Canada he already had 16 points, and his retirement from the Miami Grand Prix (when he was dramatically flipped by Liam Lawson when the Racing Bulls driver suffered a gearbox failure while Gasly was overtaking him) marked the first grand prix he’d failed to finish in the points.

“[This year is] so much more enjoyable,” Gasly told RACER prior to the Miami retirement. “It's difficult to describe. Obviously, that's what got me through last year in a way, and pushed me through the season, knowing that on paper we definitely had more exciting and much more potential coming in 2026.

“I'm still trying to pull my team as much as I could, and be at the standard that I expect myself to be at in terms of putting the best performance I can every single session, every single lap. But you don't find the same enjoyment putting good laps in and being in 15th or the middle of the pack, not fighting for points.”

In a season when so many teams were hoping to take advantage of new regulations to make a significant step forward, Alpine can certainly claim the title of most improved team. From bottom of the constructors’ championship in 2025, and 48 points adrift of the next lowest-scoring team, to fifth now, Alpine was even fighting with Red Bull until the latter introduced significant upgrades in Miami.

Early in its new partnership with Mercedes, there is more to come from the Renault-owned outfit, too. Gasly believes Alpine is now proving it was actually working well 12 months’ ago, it was just not directing its focus to its previous car.

“I think there's been some bad press about the team and the state in which we were last year, for good reasons, because we clearly didn't perform well," he says. "But behind closed doors, we knew exactly what we were doing, and we kind of agreed and accepted to draw a line on the previous regulation and focus on this one.

“We knew the changes we were making inside the factory, and from my point of view, I could definitely see a positive change. Obviously, it didn't affect the performance of last year, so people potentially could think that we're not evolving, we're not improving. But behind closed doors there were definitely a lot of green flags, and good signs of the potential that we could get out of ourselves.

Alpine's decision to make an early start on developing its current car came at a steep cost to its competitiveness in 2025. But the payoff was apparent when the team found itself mixing it up with the likes of Red Bull early this season. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

"And I think it needs to keep going. Even though it's been a decent start, I still want more than what we're doing. I still want to be able to fight the frontrunners.

“They are not miles away, but we're just not quite there at the moment to be in the fight, or be in the mix. I think we're missing a couple of tenths, but I do believe that if we keep pushing, we keep the momentum we're having, it's not impossible that we could join the cars in front of us.”

Now 30 years old, Gasly is no longer one of the younger drivers on the grid, but he still feels like one who could fight for wins on a regular basis if given the machinery. That potential was not always visible in an uncompetitive car – to such an extent that even Flavio Briatore expressed his surprise at Gasly’s abilities upon returning to the team – but it has allowed him to carve out a team leader role at Alpine amid a spell of instability within the second seat.

As much as it’s a position of responsibility that he’s enjoying, the Frenchman says it’s secondary to having a the best possible car at his disposal.

“Naturally I want to be someone that needs to have control," he says. "I need to lead my people. I need to be heard. I need to get things in the way that just works well with my team. I don't like to leave anything to the unknown, so I like to be involved.

"And it's a position I enjoy because I just know I can get the best out of myself and the setup and the environment when I get given that sort of role and leadership.

“Yes, 30 is a number. You see Fernando is still a team leader at 45 years old. At the end of the day, even though that's an important role to me, I still want the fastest car I can underneath me, and that's what I expect from Alpine.”

In September, Gasly signed a contract extension that will keep him at Alpine until at least the end of the 2028 season, in a move that raised eyebrows in some corners given the recent evidence of declining performance. After this year’s uptick in form, it’s a deal that makes a lot more sense to those on the outside, and Gasly believes the team is not far away from having the infrastructure in place to be able to target wins and championships.

“That's the goal," he says. "This year, obviously no [it’s not the target], but I've seen a very positive step forward, a positive change in the structure, in the processes, and we're definitely getting more out of it.

“Right now, do we have everything we need to fight for a world championship? No, we still need some improvements in a couple of areas. But I think we have all the tools needed to actually be fighting up the front and get even more out than we do at the moment. I think that's very promising.

"We're very excited for the coming years. Again, I don't think it's impossible that we end up in that position, but we still have work to do.”