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Alpine's Pierre Gasly Admits To Team Struggles, 'Can't Wait To Start' 2026

Originally posted on F1 on SI | By Jude Short | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 1:25 PM ET

A shocking admission from Alpine driver Pierre Gasly before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix seems to indicate that the team have given up on making significant strides in the 2025 season.

The French outfit sit rock-bottom of the 2025 Constructors' Championship, having only 20 points for the season, 24 points behind ninth-placed Haas.

Gasly has scored all 20 of the team's points, while teammate Franco Colapinto's consistent struggles as the team's second driver saw him named as one of our biggest losers of the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Alpine put a 'stop' to development early on in the season

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Speaking to media on the Thursday before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly revealed all on the difficulties he has experienced in the second half of the season.

"We know [about the struggles], and I’ve backed the team from the first day — start of the year — to fully commit on to 2026. We made some tactical decisions not to develop that car, to stop the development very early on."Gasly on lack of development

The Frenchman then offered a perspective of how the team have slowly slipped throughout the year, stating:

"[We] probably got affected also by the couple of changes of regulation through the year, which meant we started in an okay place and probably lost performance through the year when others managed to develop a tiny bit more."

After race day at Baku, where the Alpine cars finished 18th and 19th, Gasly admitted to struggling in the car yet again, but was able to deliver some slight optimism.

"I am not feeling great in the car right now, like I did earlier in the season - that is something we need to turnaround. This is the package we have and I know we will sit down together, work hard and aim to come back stronger from the next race.”Gasly post-Azerbaijan GP

Alpine social media announcement shocks fans

Alpine took to social media following their struggles at Azerbaijan with a post on X, reading:

With our current package, we know the last few races will be tough.

Time to see out 2025 and keep pushing back at base. pic.twitter.com/XJ1lqejD6K
— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) September 22, 2025

This admission surprised fans, with one fan stating that the team 'gave up' already, another saying that they 'forgot' Alpine existed, and a third saying that the team have 'wasted a year' of Pierre Gasly's career with their star driver now almost 30.

Although the atmospehere surrounding the team is at the moment extremely downtrodden, Gasly's recent contract extension is good news for the team and with regulation changes in 2026 set to impact the grid significantly, anything can happen.