The Frenchman bitterly complained about the team's strategy after a slow pit stop left him stuck in traffic, Colapinto took advantage of the situation and overtook Gasly to take the last point in tenth position.
Pierre Gasly had a tense radio exchange with his race engineer Josh Peckett during the Belgian Grand Prix, the Alpine driver exploded in fury after a slow pit stop on lap 14 left him stuck in traffic and ruined his chances of scoring points: "What the hell was that?! Putting me in traffic, that's very bad, mate!" the Frenchman shouted over the radio.
Peckett tried to calm the situation and urged Gasly to focus on the out lap, but the Norman's response was even more heated: "I can't calm down, mate, it's your fault! Focus on putting me in the right track conditions!" Gasly yelled, he engineer replied with a curt: "Mate, head down and focus" and Gasly closed the exchange with a dry "Yes, leave me to it now."
The slow stop not only neutralized the undercut that Alpine was trying to execute on Racing Bulls, but also compromised the entire second half of the Frenchman's race, Gasly managed to stay in the fight for several stretches, but on lap 31 his teammate Franco Colapinto overtook him along with Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) with a move on the Kemmel straight, the Argentine crossed the line in tenth position and took the last available point while Gasly finished eleventh, less than a second behind his teammate.
After getting out of the car, Gasly acknowledged that the pit stop had been decisive although he extended his analysis beyond the specific incident: "We tried the undercut to overtake Racing Bulls but our stop was relatively slow, this meant I had to complete the out lap in traffic, which affected our chances of success" declared the driver in statements published by Alpine.
The Frenchman expanded his analysis and raised the alert for the short term: "Today things didn't go my way but the important thing is that we are not fast enough, Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) were too far away, this has been a trend in recent weeks that we must reverse soon" he stated.
The race in Belgium was won by Kimi Antonelli with Mercedes, followed by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, it was the sixth victory of the season for the 19 year old Italian.
Peckett began working with Gasly after having done so with Esteban Ocon and briefly with Jack Doohan, on the other side of the garage, Stuart Barlow (who also went through Doohan's box) is Colapinto's race engineer, the dynamic between the two team drivers became more tense after this result: the Argentine scored the point that the Frenchman could not get and he did so by overtaking him on track.
The difference in race management between the two Alpine drivers reflects a shift in the team's internal balance. Colapinto has shown in recent races a comeback ability and strategic intelligence that make him an increasingly serious rival for Gasly within the team
Alpine thus adds another weekend with warning signs, action will continue next weekend with the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the summer break. The French team will have to review its pit procedures and find the speed that, for now, eludes them compared to their direct rivals.
