After scoring his best-ever result in Formula One at the Miami GP, Franco was definitely pleased with his week.

From driving an E20 F1 car at home in front of half a million people, to seeing Argentinian sporting royalty, Lionel Messi, and then achieving P7 in Miami, it was certainly a week to remember. With six points scored, adding to Pierre’s run of form with a point in the Sprint Race – meaning he has scored at every round so far in 2026 – here’s a recap of BWT Alpine Formula One Team’s busy week in South Florida…

Touchdown in Miami Gardens

Following the five-week break, the team was eager to go racing again at the Miami International Autodrome, one of the showpiece races on the calendar, set in and around Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins NFL team.

We arrived in South Florida cautiously optimistic, having brought a number of upgrades to the car. Franco ran a new chassis as part of our ongoing development programme, while Pierre trialled a new rear wing. Both cars also featured a number of new aerodynamic components, designed and manufactured by the team in Enstone following the Japanese Grand Prix.

Franco was especially buoyant arriving in Miami, following his spectacular demonstration run on the streets of his home city of Buenos Aires in front of half a million people. It felt as though much of Argentina had made the trip to North America, with plenty of high-profile support in attendance, including the legendary Messi, fresh from his MLS match for Inter Miami on Saturday, tennis star Juan Martin del Potro and songwriter Bizarrap.

Before taking to the track, Pierre and Franco spent Wednesday at the SoFi golf centre, home of the TGL, competing in a Businessolver challenge. The two competed in longest drive, putting and short game contests. Earlier in the week, we also announced two new partnerships, with Skip home care products and Italian luxury brand Brioni.

Pierre and Franco then headed to the track for media duties and engineering preparation on Thursday, both arriving in items from the special edition Perfect Moment x BWT Alpine Formula One Team capsule collection. The luxury skiwear brand also hosted a special ‘Aperitif’ in the paddock with their very own ‘Miami Moment’ cocktail.

Back behind the wheel

Friday morning featured an extended 90-minute practice session, the only non-competitive running of the weekend. Pierre finished P8, while Franco was P11 as we evaluated our new aerodynamic components and worked to understand changes to battery management and deployment.

In Sprint Qualifying later that afternoon, Franco was particularly pleased with the car’s performance, progressing to SQ3 and securing his best qualifying result with the team in eighth. It was an impressive effort, especially on Used Tyres as we saved a new set for Saturday, and additionally, with this marking Franco’s first visit to the Miami International Autodrome. Pierre joined Franco in SQ3, ending in P10.

“I’m happy with how we achieved this result, as we managed to turn things around from a difficult position. It was quite tough and took us a while to understand how the car was behaving earlier in the day,” said Franco. “We found some improvements and finally got into a good rhythm, putting in strong laps and building speed and confidence with each session.”

Racing in memory of a legend

Before the start of Saturday’s Sprint, Pierre and Franco joined the rest of the drivers and team personnel on the grid to remember Alex Zanardi, the former IndyCar/CART champion and Paralympian who raced in F1 in the 1990s, and sadly passed away on Friday aged 59.

On Instagram, Flavio Briatore shared a picture of Zanardi testing with Benetton, the team’s former guise, and wrote in tribute: “It was a pleasure to know and have Alex in the Benetton team and I always kept a good relationship with him. He was a true racer and fierce competitor in everything he competed in. Whether it was racing cars, handcycling, or in life. He lived life to the full and will forever be a champion. My thoughts go out to his family at this difficult time. Ciao Alex.”

Following the sombre moment, Formula One was ready to return to racing once again. At the start of the Sprint, Franco made a strong getaway — even going three abreast with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton into the fast sequence of corners after Turn 1. But after slight contact, he lost a couple of positions and dropped behind Pierre. In a relatively uneventful race for both cars, Pierre finished P8 to pick up a World Championship point, while Franco came home P10.

Junior success in F2

As a result of the postponed events in the Middle East, FIA Formula 2 made its North American debut in Miami and delivered two enthralling races,both featuring late passes for the lead. Our Alpine Academy drivers were in the thick of the competition throughout.

On Saturday, Ireland’s Alex Dunne secured his second Sprint podium of the season. Then on Sunday morning, in a rain-affected race, Kush Maini started from pole, but it was Gabriele Mini who stormed through the field to claim his maiden Feature Race victory. After early rain soaked the Miami International Autodrome, Gabriele kept his composure and took the lead on the penultimate lap in another spectacular encounter passing Dino Beganovic in the Turn 17 Hairpin

The ups and downs of Miami

After a week of hot, sunny weather — peaking at 34°C on Saturday — the forecast shifted, with (slightly) cooler conditions and thunderstorms moving across South Florida on Sunday. As a result, the start of the Miami GP was brought forward by three hours to 1pm local time.

Thanks to another strong qualifying performance, with both cars reaching Q3, Franco lined up eighth on the grid with Pierre just behind in P9. Drama unfolded immediately at lights out: Pierre made a great start, but had to jump on the brakes to avoid Max Verstappen, who spun at the exit of Turn 2. In the chaos, Franco capitalised to move into seventh, going side-by-side with Lewis Hamilton once again.

Unfortunately, Pierre’s race was ended early following a spectacular incident on Lap 5. Attempting to recover positions, he was battling Liam Lawson into Turn 17 when Lawson locked up and made contact with Pierre’s left-rear, sending him into a roll and onto the tyre barrier. Thankfully, Pierre was able to climb out unaided, but it was a disappointing end to his race.

Meanwhile, Franco continued in seventh in the early stages and was among the later drivers to pit, switching from Medium to Hard tyres on lap 31, by which point he was running in fourth overall. With uncertainty over further rain, the team timed the stop well, and as conditions remained dry, Franco rejoined in P8, where he finished on the road.

A post-race time penalty for Charles Leclerc however promoted Franco to P7, to give him his best-ever Formula One result and six valuable points, lifting the team back to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.

“Really proud of the whole team this weekend — another Q3, points scored, it’s really positive,” said a delighted Franco after the race. “The car has been really strong and we’ve maximised every session. I’m very grateful to the team, and everyone back at Enstone has done an amazing job with the upgrades — new wings, new chassis — everything is moving in the right direction. Let’s keep pushing for Canada!”