BWT Alpine Formula One Team had both cars finish inside the top ten at the Mexico City Grand Prix, but left with no points. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were each penalised after the race for yellow flag infringements, which dropped them out of the scoring positions. The race was also the one in which Kimi Antonelli clinched the 2026 World Drivers’ Championship.
Top-ten finishes undone by penalties
Alpine had a frustrating Sunday in Mexico City. The Enstone-based team crossed the line with both cars in the points: Franco Colapinto took eighth and Pierre Gasly tenth. Both results were then wiped out by stewards’ decisions taken after the chequered flag.
Gasly received a 10-second stop-and-go time penalty for a yellow flag infringement, which dropped him to 17th in the classification. Colapinto was given a 10-second time penalty for the same type of offence and was also classified outside the points.
Both drivers took responsibility for their mistakes. Gasly said the infringement was “my error which has obviously stopped us from scoring points”. Colapinto admitted: “While it is difficult to really understand, it is my mistake in the car.”
A race of restarts and strategy calls
The race was interrupted by a red flag and several safety car periods, and both drivers changed tyres during the stoppage.
Gasly started ninth on new soft tyres. He pitted on lap 17 for new mediums and again on lap 44 for used softs. He then fitted another set of used softs under the red flag on lap 45. His fastest lap was 1min 20.754secs. He said he made a strong start but then lost power on the straight, which cost him several places. More power problems at the restarts later in the race kept him from moving up the order.
“There are a few things for us to look at on our side as I felt we could have been much higher up had we not had some of the issues.” — Pierre Gasly
Colapinto started 11th on new mediums. He made a single stop on lap 34 for new softs, then switched to used softs during the red flag on lap 45. His fastest lap was 1min 20.750secs, fractionally quicker than his teammate’s. The Argentine praised the team’s decisions in a chaotic race: “There were multiple restarts and safety cars, but I think as a team we dealt with it well and made the right calls.” He described the result as “a very bitter end”, coming after a run of races in which he had not finished.
Pace encouraging, result not
Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore saw positives in the car’s race pace, which he compared favourably with the team’s qualifying form. He said he was “less happy with the final result”.
“After the penalties applied post-race, we leave Mexico City without any points, which is a pity after having both cars finish in the points.” — Flavio Briatore
Briatore said Colapinto had driven “a very good and consistent race”. He added that Gasly had done a good job to recover after his power problems at the start.
Antonelli crowned champion
The weekend also settled the drivers’ title, with Kimi Antonelli winning the 2026 World Drivers’ Championship. All three Alpine figures congratulated him. Colapinto noted that Antonelli shared the podium with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Briatore called it Antonelli’s “first World Drivers’ Championship” and praised how the young Italian had handled the pressure, signing off with “Bravo Kimi!”
What it means
The lost points matter in a tight midfield, especially as the team says its recent performances have improved after a difficult run. Gasly and Colapinto both suggested the car was capable of more on Sunday.
The São Paulo Grand Prix follows next weekend and completes the current triple header of the 24-race season.
Source: media.alpinecars.com