BWT Alpine Formula One Team travels to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for Round 10 of the 2026 season, the final double-header before the summer break. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto tackle the longest circuit on the calendar as the team fights for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. The weekend also brings the annual ‘Run for Anthoine’ tribute at the historic Belgian track.

Formula One arrives at one of its most storied venues this weekend, with the Belgian Grand Prix marking Round 10 of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship. For BWT Alpine Formula One Team it is the second half of a double-header and the last event before the sport’s summer shutdown.

One of the calendar’s originals

Spa-Francorchamps is a long-standing driver favourite and one of only four circuits that appeared on Formula One’s inaugural calendar 76 years ago and still feature today. The modern layout measures 7.004 km (4.352 miles), making it the longest track on the 2026 schedule, though it is just under half the length of the original 14.120 km (8.774 mile) course. It retains its signature challenges in La Source, the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex and Blanchimont.

A very close midfield fight

Alpine sits in a tight battle for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. At the previous round in Britain, both cars recovered from difficult grid positions to finish in the points, with Colapinto climbing from P19 to P9. Team representative Steve Nielsen was direct about where the team stands.

Clearly, we are in a very close midfield fight in the battle for P5 in the Constructors’ Championship and it is evident that right now we are just that step behind some of our rivals, which we must quickly resolve.

Nielsen said the Enstone factory is working on upgrades and stressed that they must be “effective and decisive” when introduced. He added that the current generation of cars could make Spa “a very different spectacle entirely to what we have seen at Spa before.”

Gasly and Colapinto on the challenge

Gasly is relishing the return to a circuit he rates among the season’s best, while noting that energy management on the long straights and fast corners will shape the approach.

As a track it has some of the best corners of the season and provides one of the best challenges we face at the wheel.

Colapinto, scoring for a second time after his Silverstone recovery, said the high-speed corners “always require a lot of commitment” and that cars able to follow more closely this year should aid overtaking.

Remembering Anthoine and Dilano

The team will again honour Anthoine Hubert, the Renault Sport Academy member who lost his life in an FIA Formula 2 race at Spa in 2019. On the evening of Thursday 16 July, the annual ‘Run for Anthoine’ — organised by Gasly for the fourth time — invites the F1, F2 and F3 paddocks to run or walk the circuit in memory of Hubert and of Dilano van ‘t Hoff, who died in 2023. The run begins at 18:00 on the start-finish straight, pausing at Eau Rouge and on the Kemmel Straight.

In the Formula 2 feeder series, the Alpine Academy heads to Belgium in strong form: Gabriele Mini is second in the standings after a sixth straight podium round, with Alex Dunne fourth and Kush Maini sixth.

Facts: Alpine at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix

  • Event: Round 10, 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship
  • Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps, 7.004 km (4.352 miles) — longest on the calendar
  • Drivers: Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto (Alpine A526)
  • Championship: fighting for P5 in the Constructors’
  • ‘Run for Anthoine’: Thursday 16 July, 18:00

The Belgian Grand Prix takes place this weekend before Formula One breaks for its summer shutdown.

Source: media.alpinecars.com