Pierre Gasly chassis change explained after Alpine breaks curfew in Barcelona
Alpine broke curfew to ready the spare chassis for Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly will continue the Barcelona Grand Prix weekend in Alpine’s spare chassis after reporting a suspected suspension issue during Friday’s opening practice session.
Gasly did return to the track for the day’s second session, but finished 1.8s down on pace-setter Lando Norris.
Pierre Gasly switched to spare chassis after FP1 suspension issue
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While putting in the laps in Friday’s opening practice, just hours after learning that his third place at the Monaco Grand Prix had been reinstated after his penalties were rescinded, Gasly ran into trouble late in the session.
He reported: “I think something is broken. I can’t turn forwards.”
Heading back to the Alpine garage, he added that it was something on the suspension.
He was back on track for Friday’s second session, but lacked pace.
Alpine opted to change his chassis overnight, with the team breaking curfew to do so.
“The team broke curfew on Friday night for the second time (of four allowed without incurring a penalty) this season to prepare a new chassis from its existing pool for #Car 10 going into the remainder of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend,” the team said in a statement to PlanetF1.com.
Alpine, though, wasn’t the only team that broke curfew.
McLaren had already announced on Friday that it would do so to work on both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s cars.
Describing it as “precautionary” given the team’s recent reliability issues, McLaren said: “McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team will today use the second of its four curfew exemptions within Restricted Period Three to carry out precautionary work on both MCL40s.
“The team will replace permissible key components to help improve the robustness of the installation and integration of the power unit on both cars.”
Meanwhile, the FIA confirmed that Cadillac had also remained at the circuit outside the permitted hours to work on its cars.
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“Last night team personnel of the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, the BWT Alpine Formula One Team and the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, who are associated with the operation of the car, were within the confines of the circuit during the eleven and a half hour period which commenced at 22:00 on 12 June, fourteen and a half hours before the scheduled start time of P3 and ends three hours before the scheduled start time of P3 at 09:30 on 12 June.
“This was the second of the four individual exceptions permitted for the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team, the BWT Alpine Formula One Team and the Cadillac Formula 1 Team during the 2026 Formula One Championship season and therefore no action should be taken.”
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