Gasly pleased with 10th after ‘intense’ Belgian GP as Colapinto reflects on ‘tough’ afternoon

Pierre Gasly was pleased with his and Alpine's work in the Belgian Grand Prix as the Frenchman came home in 10th place at the end of a difficult race with mixed conditions.

Gasly backed up his sixth place from Silverstone with another assured drive, underlining his credentials as one to watch in the wet. He rose from P13 on the grid to finish 10th at the flag, scoring a much needed point for Alpine, who remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship table.

Gasly pitted one lap earlier than the majority of the field as the track dried at Spa, which proved to be the perfect strategy call. That jumped him ahead of some of his midfield rivals, and he defended well in the closing stages to keep the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Ollie Bearman at bay.

“It was a very intense race and I am pleased that we were able to make the right calls to come away with one point, which we can be satisfied with today,” Gasly said afterwards.

“We made some very good decisions like opting for an aggressive, low downforce set-up, which allowed us to attack and defend on the straights and also pitting at the right time for dry tyres as the track dried up early on.

“So, I am very happy with that and that hard work has paid off today. It is only a point but, after a race like that, defending from a number of cars for so long, we can be pleased.”

Spa is always a poignant place to visit for Gasly, as he uses the opportunity of returning here to pay tribute to his childhood friend Anthoine Hubert. As well as organising a run in Hubert’s memory this year, Gasly invited his friend’s mother to watch the race from the Alpine garage, alongside his own mum.

“Every year, Spa is a special weekend for me for many reasons, so it was nice to have my family here alongside Anthoine's mum too,” he added.

Colapinto had a more difficult afternoon during the Belgian Grand Prix a he was unable to make much progress after starting 14th on the grid, thanks to Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton opting to start from the pit lane.

After finding himself stuck in the midfield DRS train, the Argentine racer also tried the two-stop strategy, which proved the slower way to the flag at Spa and he ultimately came home in 19th place.

“It was a tough and long race for us,” Colapinto said. “It was very wet to begin and the conditions probably came to us as it dried as we opted for a low downforce wing to prioritise straight line speed.

“The start was good, we caught up the cars in front, before pitting for dry tyres. We seemed to struggle for pace on the medium in traffic. We then pitted again to cover Carlos [Sainz] but, in the end, we could not make any progress towards him.”

Colapinto remains under some pressure as he is still without a score this season, with Alpine now 15-points behind Haas in the fight for ninth in the Championship.