Last year's worst F1 team “in a different league” after best start since 2023

Pierre Gasly says Alpine is “in a completely different league” in the 2026 Formula 1 season compared to where it was last year, after scoring points in the first two races.

The Enstone outfit struggled across the final two years of the previous ground effect rules cycle, with it slumping to last in the constructors’ standings in 2025 amid a torrid campaign.

Not only was the team beset with numerous team personnel changes, but its decision to slim down car development with a view to dedicating more resources to the 2026 project compounded its woes on track.

Alpine ended 2025 with just 22 points, almost 50 shy of ninth-placed Sauber.

However, the team has made a much stronger start to 2026, scoring 10 points and cracking the top 10 in the first two rounds for the first time in three years.

Alpine has limitations, but “not unfixable” ones

“I think looking at ‘25 and where we were, where we are now is a completely different league,” Pierre Gasly told Crash.net after finishing sixth in the Chinese Grand Prix.

“I’m very pleased we did a good job in qualifying, a couple of tenths off a McLaren.

“The first stint, I wasn’t losing massive ground compared to the Ferrari, and there are still many little things which we need to fine-tune and fix, which are not unfixable limitations.

“I’m pretty confident. China was special. Hopefully, the performance will be quite similar to here in the coming races.”

Alpine is only eight points down on fellow Mercedes customer McLaren, who has endured a nightmare start to the campaign.

Reflecting more on the Chinese Grand Prix, Gasly admits he was “a little annoyed” that a fifth-place finish got away from him after the safety car restart on lap 14.

“I must say, I am very happy,” he said.

“Deep inside me, the very competitive Pierre is a little annoyed not to get that P5 because I really felt comfortable in fifth before the safety car.

“I was pulling away, the pace was all fine.

“I wasn’t getting too carried away, because I knew with these new cars and the new regs, it’s not about whether there’s going to be a safety car, it’s when there’s going to be a safety car.

“So it eventually happened, bunched up the whole field, and at the restart, for whatever reason, I didn’t have the power out of the last corner, so Ollie passed me very easily.

“Then, the mid-race and all off the fighting with the Haas and Max, I lost ground a bit on Bearman.

“Once I managed to clear all of them, I think I was a bit more than five seconds behind Max and eight behind Bearman, and it was quali lap after quali lap. On this side, it was quite enjoyable.

“I managed to catch up, but I put in my mind that I was getting them no matter what, and in the end, I came up short by two seconds. But still, a very good day for the team.”