Alpine burns first curfew exception of 2026 for late-night Gasly setup work

Alpine were forced to call upon one of their four permitted curfew exceptions on Friday night at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, after team personnel remained inside the circuit during a restricted period to carry out work on Pierre Gasly's A526.

According to an FIA document, Alpine staff associated with car operations were present within the circuit during a window of twelve hours and forty-six minutes, beginning at 20:14 on 22 May — some fifteen hours and forty-six minutes before the scheduled start of Free Practice 3 — and concluding at 09:00 on 23 May, three hours before the Sprint's scheduled start time.

A Calculated Regulatory Trade-Off

That window falls squarely within the mandatory overnight curfew defined under the Sporting Regulations, which prohibits team personnel involved in car operations from being present inside the circuit during designated rest periods. Teams are, however, afforded four exceptions per season to deploy when circumstances demand it.

With this being Alpine's first exception used in the 2026 campaign, the stewards confirmed that no further action would be taken against the team. The regulations are explicit on this point: using one of the four permitted exceptions carries no additional penalty.

Why Alpine Chose to Act

The decision to work through the night was driven directly by Gasly's competitive situation. Having qualified only 19th for the Montreal Sprint, Alpine determined that changes to the car's setup were necessary following Friday's session — a move clearly motivated by the need to find more performance after a difficult day. Alpine had been working to understand Gasly's recent struggles, having uncovered ideas and evidence to explain his Miami difficulties in the lead-up to the Canadian weekend.

However, any setup modifications made to a car after qualifying — a period governed by Parc Fermé regulations — automatically require the driver to start the following event from the pit lane. Alpine accepted that consequence knowingly, judging that the potential gain from improving the A526's configuration outweighed the cost of surrendering Gasly's grid position.

The FIA's document notes that the team "broke the curfew on the Norman driver's car for the first time this year," but explicitly affirms that the applicable regulations allow four such exceptions per season without penalty. As a result, Gasly faces no additional sporting or procedural sanction beyond the pit-lane start already mandated by the setup changes made under Parc Fermé conditions.

A Calculated Regulatory Trade-Off