Alpine’s dismal season took another bad turn at the Belgian Grand Prix when Pierre Gasly encountered a car issue before the Sprint race even commenced. Consequently, his car was removed from the grid just 15 minutes prior to the start of Saturday’s short-form race.
Gasly had joined his competitors on the track for his reconnaissance laps of the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps ahead of the weekend’s first of two races. The Frenchman would have been targeting a potential points finish after impressively qualifying eighth on the grid for the Sprint.
However, he never got the opportunity to start after experiencing a power loss while en route to the grid. Alpine instructed him to enter the pit lane, but Gasly disregarded this request, pulling up at the back of the grid as usual to be moved to his starting position.
His engineers did just that, but it quickly became apparent that the problem was more severe than they had anticipated. They removed the engine cover from the car and identified an issue that couldn’t be resolved on the grid, resulting in the car being taken back to the garage just moments before the start of the Sprint.
The team soon confirmed that the car had experienced a water leak issue, preventing Gasly from starting. The 29-year-old was quickly out of his vehicle, appearing frustrated as he conversed with team boss Flavio Briatore and his engineers back in the garage.
Adding to the team’s woes, Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto was due to start from the pit lane after modifications were made to his car. The Argentine had qualified in the bottom five anyway, making it unlikely for him to score points.