Alpine's executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, lamented the impact of the safety car on Franco Colapinto's race at the Japanese Grand Prix, though he emphasized that the Argentine must improve his qualifying performance to position himself better in the competition. "It was another positive weekend for the team, with another good result that adds points at the start of the season. Moreover, repeating it on a different circuit like Suzuka confirms the improvements we achieved in Shanghai and shows that we are competing with Red Bull as the fourth fastest car currently," Briatore stated. He then added: "Pierre had another fantastic race and handled the pressure wonderfully, keeping Max behind for over 25 laps," according to the Argentine News Agency. Alpine is fifth in the Formula 1 Constructors' World Championship with 16 points, of which 15 belong to Pierre Gasly and one to Colapinto for his tenth place in China, while in Suzuka the Frenchman finished seventh after maintaining an extensive defense against Max Verstappen, who failed to overtake him. In contrast, the Buenos Aires-born driver finished 16th in a race conditioned by external factors; after entering the pits on lap 18 to change tires, Oliver Bearman's accident four laps later caused the safety car to come out and altered his strategy, as several rivals took the opportunity to stop and nullify the advantage he had built.
