HALF TERM REPORT: Alpine’s best and worst moments from 2026 so far and driver head-to-heads

On the face of it, Alpine’s improvement from last season to this should be applauded. They’ve already nearly tripled their points total from 2025, when they finished bottom of the pile, and are still heavily invested in the fight against Racing Bulls to be crowned best of the rest. But there has been dwindling progress recently and that could be a worry, especially with half of the year gone. On that note, let’s delve into their half term report…

Best finish

Gasly – 3rd in Monaco

Podiums for midfield teams tend to come as a result of misfortune for drivers further up the pecking order, such as crashes or mechanical failures that cause an unexpected retirement. Of course, the individual’s own performance is important too, but Pierre Gasly himself would admit that luck played a role in his P3 finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.

As a Frenchman, racing in the Principality is the closest thing Gasly has to a home race on the current calendar, and a podium there is something many can only dream of. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to celebrate it in the conventional way with the result confirmed five days afterwards.

Having started ninth on the grid, Gasly capitalised on the two Safety Cars and red flag to move into fourth before gaining another position when George Russell served his penalty. However, the Alpine man wasn’t made aware that he had two time penalties of his own, which were added to his time as he crossed the line to demote him to P7.

Once the initial heartbreak had passed, his team requested a Right of Review that was ultimately deemed successful, reinstating him to the top three and forcing Isack Hadjar to hand the trophy over.

Qualifying head-to-head

Gasly 9-2 Colapinto

Alpine didn’t have an easy time finding someone to race alongside Gasly long-term – in 2025, they switched Jack Doohan out for Franco Colapinto in what was initially planned to be a rotation, with the Argentine’s future at the outfit far from secure.

He impressed enough to stick around for this season and has taken another clear step forward, although Gasly holds a commanding lead of nine to two in their Qualifying head-to-head record.

Both made Q3 appearances early in the year (Gasly in China, Japan, Miami and Monaco, and Colapinto in Miami and Canada), but the spots they grew used to at the tail end of the top 10 have been usurped by Racing Bulls and the occasional Audi.

Race head-to-head

Gasly 7-4 Colapinto

Gasly’s dominance in the head-to-heads reduces slightly when it comes to their race performances as Colapinto has finished ahead on four occasions, including the Canadian Grand Prix where he clinched a career-best P6, albeit a lap down on the leaders.

Of their 61 points, the Frenchman has secured 42, having embarked on a superb run of seven rounds of scoring that was cut short by the Austrian Grand Prix, labelled “the toughest of the season” by Gasly.

Best moment

There’ll be no prizes for guessing what Gasly would consider their best moment (hint: claiming his first podium since 2024 at the sport’s most iconic circuit might be up there), but Alpine had several highlights during their strong start to the year.

With the exception of Monaco, they enjoyed their best weekend in Canada thanks to Colapinto’s aforementioned P6, with Gasly not too far behind in P8 – one of a quartet of double points finishes for the Enstone-based team.

Their race pace has typically outshone their speed over a single lap – not their biggest issue considering only the former can guarantee points – and both racers have subsequently delivered some notable recovery drives, including Gasly’s charge from P14 to P7 at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Worst moment

Alpine have steadily declined over recent rounds, with neither driver scoring in Austria or Hungary where they lagged behind their rivals. But even when Colapinto placed 10th in Belgium, he had too many concerns about their current package to relish the result.

It can’t be a good sign when scoring won’t stop your driver from criticising the car and labelling it “too slow”. At the time, they left Spa-Francorchamps with the hope that the Hungaroring’s corners would suit their car – another bad indication, then, that they could only manage P12 and P15.

Aside from their point-less weekends, the biggest incident occurred when Gasly inadvertently made contact with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in Miami, causing his car to flip mid-air and clatter into the barriers. The Frenchman was fortunately uninjured, but it brought a scary end to his weekend.

Going forward

After their disappointing P10 finish in the 2025 Teams’ Championship, Alpine must have been relieved when they emerged as the top midfield team over the opening rounds. Consistent points, relatively content drivers, a dominant hold on P5 in the standings… all slipped away as the weekends ticked by.

That’s largely down to a magnificent surge by Racing Bulls as they implemented effective upgrades and reaped the rewards, with both Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad delivering some striking results.

It had been a long time coming, with Alpine fully aware of the threat that they posed, but Racing Bulls finally surpassed them in Hungary to snatch P5 with a six-point advantage. It seemed like all the team could do was watch as they lost more and more ground to their competitors – that needs to be thwarted if they have any chance of reclaiming the position.

More updates are likely after the summer break for both outfits, so if Alpine can unlock more pace, capitalise on Gasly’s trademark consistency and support Colapinto to reach a similar level, they could once again establish control over the midfield.