Gasly explains why he was ‘on another level’ in Brazil after claiming first points since Spa

Pierre Gasly managed to score in both the Sprint and Grand Prix in Sao Paulo where he finished P10, as his strong run of form in Brazil continued. It was a much-needed confidence boost for Alpine as well, who had not scored since before the summer break.

Gasly started 13th for the Sprint but managed to fight forward to finish eighth, and his performance in the Grand Prix was just an impressive despite a top-10 starting berth.

He was forced to pit early after opting for the soft tyres off the line, and had to work hard to get back through plenty of traffic and climb back into the top 10.

With two cars one-stopping and creating a DRS train, Gasly finished just three tenths of a second ahead of Alex Albon for a very hard-fought point. While his tally of two points for the weekend did not have an affect on the Championship, with Alpine still rooted to the bottom of the table, it was a good boost for a team that have been up against it this season.

And for the Frenchman, it was just reward for two strong drivers – the sort he has put in without recognition at the back of the field weekend in, weekend out.

“I’m very, very happy. We hadn’t scored a point on a Sunday since Spa before the summer break, so it has been a long three months, and this weekend, we just had a good car,” Gasly explained.

“We managed to score one point in the Sprint and another point on Sunday, which was pretty difficult, so I’m pleased.”

He then elaborated on the midfield battle, with the Frenchman getting to fight with Isack Hadjar more than once – something he was happy with, despite his fellow Frenchman eventually finishing ahead.

“It was a tough battle with Isack. I managed to dive twice into Turn 1. Unfortunately, he was getting me back every time on the straight before Turn 4, so I spent quite a lot of time thinking I’m going to have nightmares about that VCARB rear wing!

“But I think overall, they were fighting for – they got a podium this year? – they have been pretty strong this year, and just to be in that mix showed we had a good car this weekend.”

Gasly scored his maiden podium at Interlagos in his Toro Rosso days, and finished on the rostrum last season for Alpine – despite the team once again having a relatively uncompetitive car. While the track has been a happy hunting ground for Gasly, this year’s result he credited to the car.

“For sure, Brazil is treating me well, but the car was just on another level compared to the last three months. So, we’ve just got to understand exactly why and from now, enjoy the good weekends. Hopefully we can repeat that again.”

As for Franco Colapinto, the Argentine racer had a very up and down weekend after the announcement that he was staying at Alpine for 2026. A heavy crash in the Sprint was the low point, but his fate in the race was largely out of his control after he was hit from behind at the start by Lewis Hamilton.

Colapinto did not blame the Ferrari man for a tricky race where he finished 15th, but saw the moment where he spun off in the Sprint as the turning point.

“I think definitely after the Sprint race, we were on the back foot a bit and just struggled as a team on my car, on my side of the garage. I struggled more as I kind of lost the pace that I had on Friday. It was easier to fix the little things on Friday, and we were in a good position already in the Sprint, then everything became a little bit more difficult.”