The Alpine driver finished seventh after a penalty to Leclerc, several media outlets highlighted his weekend, his engineer ordered him to push on the last lap to take advantage of the penalty. The French team has 23 points and has already surpassed the 22 from all of last season.
The Miami Grand Prix left a historic result for one of Alpine's drivers: Franco Colapinto finished seventh at the Florida circuit, his best classification since he debuted in the category. The position came hours after the race, when a 20 second penalty to Charles Leclerc allowed him to climb one additional position.
But beyond the penalty, what caught the attention of the specialists was the performance shown on the asphalt. The British outlet The Race included the driver in its list of "winners" of the weekend: "The Argentine's best result in F1 followed a solid performance throughout the rest of the weekend and probably his most secure weekend as an Alpine driver," wrote journalist Jack Benyon.
The analysis particularly highlights the maturity shown by the driver: "The first lap contact with Lewis Hamilton was a bit messy, but apart from that, he stayed pretty much eighth or net eighth for the entire race. He didn't make any significant mistakes that would jeopardize the pace that Alpine has acquired, which is looking more and more secure in the top part of the grid," he stated.
The result was not a matter of chance, but of a well executed strategy. In the final laps, the driver was running at a moderate pace on hard tires, with a comfortable advantage over the next pursuer, but his engineer, Stuart Barlow, had a key idea.
When Leclerc spun on the final lap and started cutting corners, Barlow ordered him to push hard to cut seconds off the Monegasque: "Let's try to pick up the pace here. Leclerc just went off, the end is getting very messy," was the radio instruction. There, at that moment, Franco asked if it was the last lap and, upon receiving confirmation, he accelerated and crossed the finish line 18 seconds behind the Ferrari driver, the 20 second penalty did the rest.
Seventh place is not only a personal milestone, but also a reflection of Alpine's improvement in 2026. The French team has 23 points in the first four races, a figure that already exceeds the 22 points it achieved throughout the entire 2025 season. It is the first time that Alpine has scored in the first four Grands Prix of the year under this denomination.
The decision to stop developing last season's car and focus on this year's car has paid off. Alpine now leads the midfield along with Haas, with the Mercedes engine as a great ally. The next challenge will be in Canada, on May 24, where they will seek to confirm this good moment.