Alpine's Las Vegas hopes undone on opening lap

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto arrived in Las Vegas with encouraging pace, only to have their races effectively ended on the opening lap after separate collisions left both Alpines badly damaged.

Gasly, who had qualified in the top 10 and looked competitive all weekend, was collected at the first corner when Gabriel Bortoleto hit Lance Stroll. Stroll then ran into Gasly, spinning him and smashing the rear diffuser. Bortoleto was later handed a five-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Qatar race for causing the incident. Both Stroll and Bortoleto retired immediately; Gasly was able to limp on and eventually crossed the line 13th, two places ahead of team mate Colapinto.

Gasly said he felt the hit ended his race almost instantly, costing the car significant downforce: after being spun and struck he lost the diffuser and “the race was over” despite having felt strong in both dry and wet practice sessions. He pointed out his consistent qualifying form in Vegas — third last year and fourth the year before — and expressed frustration that those grid results have repeatedly failed to translate into race finishes at the venue.

Colapinto’s race was also compromised at the start when Alexander Albon made contact with him. The Argentine continued with rear-end and diffuser damage but struggled with balance and rear grip throughout, sliding and lacking confidence in the car’s handling. He described the outing as “disappointing” and painfully slow compared with the pace the team had shown over the weekend.

What began as two promising weekends for Alpine turned into a long, frustrating afternoon as early contact erased the possibility of strong results. Both drivers were left to lament what might have been after encouraging car performance in practice and qualifying.