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‘I’m sideways all the time’ – Pierre Gasly’s struggle with Alpine’s wild F1 car in Singapore
Highlights
- Pierre Gasly started seventh but failed to score points in Singapore.
- Gasly lost positions early due to Alpine car’s weak start power.
- Tyre degradation caused Gasly’s pace to drop sharply in final laps.
- Alpine’s handling issues worsened performance on Singapore’s slow, traction-heavy track.
- Teammate Franco Colapinto retired with suspected driveline fault.
- Alpine now 32 points behind Racing Bulls in constructors’ championship.
Pierre Gasly leaves Singapore point-less after starting seventh, undone by a weak launch and severe late-race tyre degradation as Alpine’s limitations surface on Marina Bay’s traction-heavy layout.
His grid spot owed partly to rivals’ penalties, masking an underlying pace deficit. He scraped ahead in qualifying’s final phase, but the race exposed Alpine’s chronic weaknesses.
Gasly slipped behind Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg off the line, citing poor launch power. He notes Alpine’s starts usually improve this year, making the Singapore getaway an outlier.
Through the middle stint he resisted as best he could, yet recovering rivals closed. By lap 55 he ran tenth, eight seconds off seventh, but the picture soon deteriorated.
Tyre temperatures spiked, rear grip faded, and his lap-time collapsed over the final six laps. The car overheated its tyres rapidly on corner exits and bumps.
Gasly lost 10 seconds to Lawson and 14 to Isack Hadjar in the closing laps.
That drop-off ceded ground to Lawson and allowed Isack Hadjar to take the final point. Gasly’s deficit ballooned as traction losses multiplied out of slow corners.
Gasly explains qualifying mitigates thermal issues because short runs keep temperatures in check. In race trim, the rears overheat within laps, amplifying snap oversteer and wheelspin.
“I’m sideways every time I touch the throttle,” Gasly says of the late-race traction losses.
Alpine believes rim-related characteristics and compliance are understood, giving clear development targets. The package, however, remains especially vulnerable on low-speed, traction-led circuits like Singapore.
The team’s afternoon worsened when teammate Franco Colapinto retired with a suspected driveline fault, extending Alpine’s scoreless streak to three grands prix.
Operationally, the race execution was tidy, but the car’s thermal and traction windows proved too narrow to defend late on fresher or better-managed tyres.
Context matters in the constructors’ fight. A recent ruling linked to Monaco triggered a 13-point swing, detailed in our Singapore Grand Prix breach coverage.
Alpine now trails Racing Bulls by 32 points, raising the stakes for upcoming venues with higher-speed balance and less traction sensitivity.
Alpine sits 32 points behind Racing Bulls in the constructors’ standings after Singapore.
Visual Summary
🛞
No Grip!
No Grip!
Gasly Slides Down in Singapore 😬
–14s
vs Hadjar (last 6 laps)
Alpine’s deficit to Racing Bulls +32
Tyre Fade. No Points. Tough Night for Gasly & Alpine.
Gasly tumbled from 7th, lost his grip (literally), and Alpine’s uphill points battle just got steeper.
Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.
