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Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying team notes - Alpine

NEWS STORY
25/07/2026

Pierre Gasly: "If you take where we started the weekend and the relative pace compared to the others, you'd have to say being two-tenths off the top-10 and beating one Audi is probably better than we expected going into the session.

"We managed that time only using one set of Soft tyres, so in some way we can be pleased with how we have progressed since yesterday. On the other hand, I'm struggling a lot and the feeling in the car isn't great. We're just lacking pace at the moment and we're too far back from the top of the midfield fight, which is where we need to aim for. Here on a single lap in particular, I'm not able to drive the way I like and don't have the balance right and am drifting a lot which costs lap time and also stresses the tyres. The wind is expected to increase tomorrow which might make things interesting and we have kept one fresh set of Hard tyres for the race. With the speed of those around us, we will have to make a good start and try something different if we're to beat them over a race distance. It can be quite difficult to overtake here, but we'll give it our all and see where we eventually end up."

Franco Colapinto: "I was still catching up today after yesterday and the missed track time but even then, P13 is ultimately where we are this weekend. We had a lot to do in the second session where it was windy, and the car was difficult, and I only did three or four push laps with the off in the last corner. So today, we had to recover, it felt like a Sprint weekend, and I think we had a good showing in trying to make the car better. It was a bit into the unknown, but we did a good job as a team. On my final lap, we lost some grip in the opening part of the lap but then recovered in sectors two and three. It's bit of a pity but I think it's where we should be with the car we have. We are waiting for the upgrades we have planned and hope that they can bring a big step as we are still a bit on the back foot this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow we can catch our rivals and give ourselves a shot of points as we did last time out in Spa. This is a tricky track to pass on but, in the race, we normally have a bit more pace so we will try to do our best and come away with a reward for the team before the summer break."

Steve Nielsen: "You can see from today's result, and both cars being close together on the timesheets, that it's probably a fair reflection of where we are at this circuit with the package we have. It's a track that rewards downforce and with performance development coming later down the line, we knew it would probably be a venue that we could struggle at. Both Pierre and Franco have been working hard with the engineers to find more lap time, which we did from Friday to Saturday, and hopefully we can be more competitive in the race tomorrow. Credit to both drivers as they're pushing hard and doing the best with the tools they currently have available to them. In terms of the gap to the top-10, the outcome from Qualifying was closer than we probably expected. We know it's up to us as a team to give them a better car and the team is working hard back at Enstone to make that happen. Conditions are expected to shift a little bit tomorrow and could shake up the competitive order a bit. As we have done in recent races, we'll try and make a good start, position ourselves well, and be there to capitalise on any opportunities that present themselves to make up more places."

Check out our Saturday gallery from the Hungaroring here.

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