Alpine endure chaotic Baku weekend with no points

Alpine endured a chaotic weekend in Baku after a string of incidents in qualifying and a lowly race performance left the Enstone team scoreless at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Franco Colapinto crashed heavily in the closing seconds of Q1 on Saturday and was eliminated along with teammate Pierre Gasly, and on Sunday both drivers finished at the back of the field, leaving Alpine without points for the fourth consecutive weekend.

Qualifying at the Baku City Circuit was disrupted by multiple red flags. Alex Albon clipped the wall at Turn 1 early in Q1, bringing out the first stoppage, and Nico Hülkenberg later hit the barriers, prompting a second pause. In the final moments, Gasly lost the rear of his Alpine at Turn 4 and went into the runoff area. Colapinto, approaching the same corner a few seconds behind, lost control after encountering what he described as a strong tailwind and slammed nosefirst into the barrier. Debris from the impact ended Colapinto's session and left both Alpines out of Q1.

Alpine said the A525 driven by Colapinto suffered extensive front-left damage and the team fitted the spare chassis and a replacement gearbox, clearing him to start the race from 16th on the...