Lindblad pleased with ‘damage limitation’ for Racing Bulls at Monza amid Alpine’s ‘special’ speed

Arvid Lindblad described his and stand-in team mate Yuki Tsunoda’s double points finish at the Italian Grand Prix as “damage limitation” for Racing Bulls after Alpine’s eye-catching Qualifying display.

Racing Bulls and Alpine are both pushing to claim fifth in the Teams’ Championship and earn the ‘best of the rest’ title this season – behind front-runners Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Alpine looked set to make major moves at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza when Pierre Gasly charged his way to a shock pole position, with Lindblad the lead Racing Bulls at the tail-end of the top 10 and Tsunoda falling at the Q1 hurdle.

However, the situation changed on Sunday when Gasly fell away from the leading group and ultimately crossed the line in seventh, ahead of Lindblad, the other Alpine of Franco Colapinto and Tsunoda, who recovered well from the back.

The result means Racing Bulls remain P5 in the championship on 75 points, with Alpine on 62, and their next nearest rivals Haas on 21.

Speaking after the race, Lindblad said: “I think on a weekend where Alpine have brought something special on the straights, to be able to split them is very good.

“It’s a very small loss to them when in reality Pierre was starting on pole and I was starting P10, so to finish right behind him is good. I think it’s damage limitation for us, so we can be happy as a team.”

With Lindblad scoring points in seven of the last eight Grands Prix, he added: “I think obviously for me it’s a confidence booster, but also it’s credit to the team. We do have a strong car, it’s a robust car, it’s good on every circuit.

“Even today Alpine were much faster than us on the straights, but on the corners we were the same if not quicker. It was the same yesterday in Qualifying.

“In most tracks it’s corners that are the more important one. That gives us confidence for the upcoming rounds that we’ll still have the upper hand.”

Tsunoda finished 13 seconds behind Lindblad as he recovered from a tricky Qualifying session – and avoided a penalty for a potential start procedure infringement that the stewards looked into.

“I don’t have to talk about that, I guess?” Tsunoda smiled afterwards, having missed his grid slot at the race restart. “It’s been a bit of months that I was not racing. Some bit of confusion there. A very, very bad excuse!

“But it was a good race. A massive thanks to the team. Not bad, I think, having points after a bit of a break after Abu Dhabi [in 2025], so I’ll take it.

“It was really frustrating [to be out in Q1], because the pace was there, but at the same time, I’m happy that I brought these points back to the team now, especially when we’re fighting hard against Alpine.”