BWT Alpine Formula One Team came away from the first day of running at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with encouraging signs, after Pierre Gasly placed seventh in Free Practice 2. Franco Colapinto was 11th in the same session, having worked his way up from 18th in the morning. Between them the pair completed 91 laps of the Baku street circuit as grip levels climbed through the day.

Alpine used the opening day of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend to build mileage on a circuit that traditionally takes time to come to the drivers. The team logged 91 laps in total — 45 for Pierre Gasly and 46 for Franco Colapinto — covering 546 km (339 miles) between the two cars. Both drivers ran the C3, C4 and C5 tyre compounds.

A slow start, then a clear step forward

Free Practice 1 was the tougher of the two sessions. Gasly ended it 16th with a 1min 47.043secs, while Colapinto was 18th on a 1min 47.523secs. By the afternoon both had found significant lap time: Gasly moved up to seventh with a 1min 44.843secs, and Colapinto to 11th on a 1min 45.479secs.

Colapinto pointed to the state of the surface early on as the main limitation, along with interruptions to his programme.

“The track was quite dirty and low grip in Free Practice 1 and there was a lot of track evolution as the day went on, as is expected on street circuits. The session was quite interrupted with yellow flags, which impacted our running, but we knew there was more pace in the car to unlock.”

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Gasly wary of a shifting midfield

Gasly said he had felt comfortable in the A526 across the day, while acknowledging that Baku rarely lets a driver settle.

“It is always tricky in Baku with the conditions and it’s a track where you never feel totally comfortable. I was pushing the limits more and more on each lap so it’s positive to build up an idea of what the car can do.”

He also noted that several midfield rivals had brought updates to Azerbaijan, which he expects will move them forward — a reminder of how quickly the order behind the front-runners can rearrange itself from race to race. The team says its focus is on its own programme rather than the competition.

Management sees more to come

Managing Director Steve Nielsen described the second session as the more representative of the two, with both cars finally stringing together clean laps.

“There is potential there, certainly a little more performance to find, and the aim, as always every weekend, is to have both drivers compete for Q3 and be in contention to score points.”

On a layout where track position and a clean lap matter more than almost anywhere else on the calendar, getting both cars into the final part of qualifying would be the realistic marker of a good Friday for Alpine.

Facts: Alpine at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Thursday

  • Free Practice 1: Gasly P16, 1min 47.043secs; Colapinto P18, 1min 47.523secs
  • Free Practice 2: Gasly P7, 1min 44.843secs; Colapinto P11, 1min 45.479secs
  • Laps: 91 total (Gasly 45, Colapinto 46)
  • Distance: 546 km (339 miles) — Gasly 270 km (168 miles), Colapinto 276 km (171 miles)
  • Tyres used: C3, C4 and C5 for both drivers
  • Car: Alpine A526

The team said it would work overnight on further set-up changes ahead of qualifying.

Source: media.alpinecars.com