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Canadian Grand Prix: Qualifying team notes - Alpine

NEWS STORY
23/05/2026

Pierre Gasly: "Again, it's not the end result we expected as we exited Q2 in P14.

"Like in Miami, I am not comfortable in the car right now and we must keep working together as a team to understand why that is. We decided to make some changes to the car ahead of the Sprint Race to experiment some ideas and try to see why we are lacking pace. Our expectations as a team are much higher and we know the package has some pace as Franco delivered another good result to be in Q3. Tomorrow we will have an eye on the sky with the forecast expected to be wet. I had some experience last week in Magny-Cours with the wet tyre test so I know it will be a huge challenge for all of us at the wheel. If it does rain, it could turn into an interesting afternoon and we will see where that leaves us at the end of the race."

Franco Colapinto: "It has been a good day and a solid Saturday in general with positives to take from the Sprint and in Qualifying. I'm happy and proud of the work we've put in together as a team and I feel it's paying off with more consistent results like this one. We were close to getting a point in P9 in the Sprint, having started from P13 and the pace felt much better than the previous day and we were able to compete with cars around us. I was chasing down Arvid [Lindblad] for the final point, but we missed out which was slightly frustrating when you're so close. Then in Qualifying we were near Arvid again, and they looked very strong today, so P10 was probably the best we could have hoped for. It puts us in a good position for tomorrow and with the performance we showed in the Sprint I'm confident we can achieve a good result if the weather is consistent. We know rain is also forecast, which is an unknown for everyone, and we'll do our best and react to what happens in the race tomorrow."

Steve Nielsen: "It's certainly been a better day for us today compared to Friday as we were able to make some improvements on both cars ahead of Qualifying. Franco has done another great job to be in Q3 and he's now in a competitive grid position for tomorrow. His pace in the Sprint Race was strong and, had we had a smoother day yesterday with a better Sprint Qualifying result, we are confident he could have been well in the mix for points in the Sprint. For Pierre, we tried some experiments on set-up and changed some aerodynamic components to try and put him in a happier place in the car. While it's marginally better, he's clearly still not at ease with the package as it stands and we must continue digging to understand why as it's certainly uncharacteristic to see him so far off where we expect him to be. Unfortunately, he suffered some floor damage in Q1 as a result of hitting a trackside groundhog, which impacted his car's handling in Q2. Tomorrow the talk will be about the weather as we expect heavy rain here in Montréal. We are expecting conditions to be challenging so it will be about maximising our preparation and doing our best to navigate whatever comes. We are well in the mix and we will aim for points with both cars."

Check out our Saturday gallery from Montreal here.

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