Alpine arrived in Miami with one of the most surprising upticks in qualifying form on the 2026 grid, and for half a lap Pierre Gasly looked like he was about to convert it into a serious points haul. By the time the chequered flag fell, he was watching from the pits after a barriers-bound exit triggered first by Max Verstappen and finished off by Liam Lawson.
The story Gasly told was one of bad timing rather than bad driving. He had nailed the launch off the line, jumped multiple cars, and was set to exit Turn 1 inside the top six.
"Honestly, it was one of those situations where I took a really good start, and if I had a worse start, I would have actually got out of lap one in a better position," he reflected.
The problem was the slow-motion 360-degree spin Verstappen had just executed directly in front of him. With the Red Bull crawling sideways across the racing line, Gasly had no choice but to brake hard mid-corner, killing all his momentum.
"So it was quite unfortunate, quite unlucky timing," Gasly said. "To exit turn one, [position] seven, or maybe close to six, and then I see him coming back, and I had to hit the brake to avoid him, because obviously it was extremely slow."
With his Alpine bogged down in the middle of the track, the cars he had passed at the launch immediately swarmed back around him.
"Then I just got swallowed by the whole bunch of cars behind me. So I think we lost five, six positions there," Gasly said.
What made the incident especially painful is that Gasly believed Alpine had genuine race pace for once. The car has spent most of the early 2026 season towards the back, and the Miami weekend hinted at a meaningful step forward.
"I was not too worried, as I believed I had the pace to catch back up," he said, before admitting that he "rued the big missed opportunity."
The second blow came later in the race when Gasly found himself side by side with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, with contact eventually pitching the Alpine into the barriers. Gasly was firm that he had given the New Zealander every chance to commit to the move cleanly.
"I knew he was there," Gasly explained. "I knew [we were] side by side. I knew at that time, fortunately, he probably had to just accept losing the position, but I knew he'd still try, so that's why I left the space for a car and a half on the inside, just for him, at least, to have the choice to stay there if he really wanted."
The net result is one of Alpine's most frustrating Sundays of the year. The pace is finally there. Now Gasly just needs an opening lap that doesn't put a spinning Red Bull and a committed Racing Bulls driver in his path.
