Pierre Gasly reached the final phase of Sprint Qualifying at the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix but set no time in SQ3. He was classified tenth, one place ahead of team-mate Franco Colapinto. Both BWT Alpine drivers now turn their attention to the Sprint and to Qualifying for Sunday’s race.

A busy Friday on a Sprint weekend

Singapore runs to the Sprint format this year, so teams get only one practice session before competitive running starts. BWT Alpine Formula One Team had a mixed opening day. Pierre Gasly was ninth in Free Practice 1 and later made it into SQ3. Franco Colapinto, who was 19th in practice, missed the final Sprint Qualifying phase by one position.

In the single practice hour, Gasly’s best lap was 1min 34.038secs. Colapinto lapped in 1min 34.983secs. In Sprint Qualifying, Gasly was classified tenth after setting no time in SQ3. Colapinto was 11th with a best of 1min 33.249secs.

Gasly puzzled by the Soft tyre

Gasly said the car felt strong on the Medium compound. His final run on the Softs left him searching for grip, and he says the team needs to understand why before Qualifying.

“The car has generally performed well today and we have looked competitive throughout the day. It was good to reach the top ten and be in SQ3. The pace and feel on the Mediums was good but, unfortunately, our run on the Softs was poor and I just felt like I had no grip. It was not a great feeling on that compound for some reason, so we have a bit of work to do in order to understand why that was the case. Obviously, the bigger picture is Sunday and that means Qualifying well tomorrow. So a bit of learning to do to see how we can extract the maximum tomorrow when we know it is even more important. Our focus in the meantime is to have a competitive Sprint and see if we can chase the top eight for points.”

In the Sprint, the top eight finishers score points. That is the target Gasly has set for Saturday.

Colapinto just misses the cut

Colapinto said the team improved the car between sessions. He said SQ1 was disrupted and stop-start, which made it hard to put a clean lap together. He also said he lost time at the start of the lap. His last attempt in SQ2 was a good lap but fell just short of the top ten. By his own account, he was a little less than a tenth slower than his team-mate.

“As always with Sprint weekends, you need to feel comfortable straight away in the car with limited practice time and we worked between the sessions to get it into a better place. SQ1 was a bit disrupted and stop and start, which stopped us getting into a rhythm and stringing a proper lap together, but we made it through. I struggled a bit at the start of the lap and think there’s more performance to be found there. We put in a pretty good lap with the last run in SQ2, however it was not enough to progress, and a bit less than a tenth to Pierre and making it to SQ3. We know it will be tricky to overtake here and the start will be important, and from where we’re starting we still have something to fight for. There’s still some pace we can unlock from the car and hope to be in a stronger place for Qualifying also.”

What it means

Overtaking is hard on the Marina Bay street circuit, so grid position counts for a lot. Both drivers start the Sprint near the points places, and neither is fully happy with the car yet. That makes the time between the Sprint and Qualifying important for the Enstone-based team. Gasly and Colapinto both say there is more pace to find before Sunday.

Facts: Alpine on Friday in Singapore

  • Free Practice 1: Gasly P9 (1min 34.038secs), Colapinto P19 (1min 34.983secs)
  • Sprint Qualifying: Gasly P10 (no time set in SQ3), Colapinto P11 (1min 33.249secs)
  • Car: Alpine A526
  • Next: Sprint and Qualifying on Saturday, Grand Prix on Sunday

The Sprint and Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix take place on Saturday, and the race follows on Sunday.

Source: media.alpinecars.com