Gasly: Alpine in 'different league' after Chinese GP points haul

Pierre Gasly secured a strong sixth-place finish for Alpine at the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly missing out on fifth, but declared the team is now in a "completely different league" compared to its 2025 struggles. The result marked the first double points finish for the Mercedes-powered Alpine squad in a dry race this season, moving them up to seventh in the constructors' championship with 10 points after just two rounds—a feat that took until round nine last year.

Why it matters:

Alpine's early-season points haul signals a significant step forward from a dismal 2025 campaign. Achieving double-digit points and a double points finish this early demonstrates tangible progress under the new Mercedes power unit partnership, providing crucial momentum and confidence as the team aims to climb the midfield ladder.

The details:

• Race Recap: Gasly targeted catching Haas's Oliver Bearman for fifth in the closing laps, pushing with "qualifying lap after qualifying lap" but ultimately finished just two seconds short.
• Safety Car Impact: The French driver felt "a little bit annoyed" not to secure P5, noting he was comfortably pulling away in fifth before a Safety Car for Lance Stroll bunched the field and compromised his restart.
• Qualifying Promise: Gasly highlighted a strong qualifying performance, finishing just a couple of tenths behind Lando Norris's McLaren, and noted he wasn't "losing massive ground to Ferrari" in the early race stint.
• Areas for Improvement: He acknowledged "many little things we need to fine-tune and fix," but stressed these are "not unfixable limitations."
• Team Progress: The nine points scored in Shanghai helped Alpine jump to seventh in the standings. Last season, the team didn't reach 10 points until the ninth race.

What's next:

Gasly expressed hope that the performance level shown in China will be "quite similar" in the coming races. If Alpine can maintain this upward trajectory and consistently challenge for points with both cars, they could establish themselves as a firm fixture in the competitive midfield, turning their 'different league' claim into a sustained reality.