Pierre Gasly drove in the rain at Magny-Cours for a Pirelli test

Between two Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly is embarking on a tour of France's legendary circuits. After Paul Ricard, where he participated in the Kennol Grand Prix de France Historique (May 8-10), the driver Alpine headed to Magny-Cours with his team. The reason: a test scheduled by Pirelli to continue the development of its tires designed for rain.

These, which have not yet been used in a race, were to be tested for the first time in Bahrain with McLaren et Mercedes Benz, but the test was cancelled due to the start of the conflict that still shakes the Middle East. It was a few weeks later that the Italian manufacturer was able to debut its 2026 Rain tires for the first time, then with the support of Red Bull and Racing Bulls at Suzuka (Japan). Isack Hadjar (over both days), Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad (one day each) shared the track after the Japanese round, the third event of the season. Two weeks later, it's Lewis Hamilton which had been running on the Fiorano circuit, belonging to the Team Ferrari, to continue testing the Intermediate and Wet tires.

Pirelli therefore carried out a third test, this time on French soil, with Pierre Gasly and Alpine on track for two days. The driver from Normandy began his first day, Tuesday, May 13, with a series of laps in dry conditions to fine-tune the car before the track was artificially watered. Car number 10 completed 101 laps, or 446 km, with a best time of 1'37"816. A time logically far from the circuit record, set by Fernando Alonso in 2004 (1'13″698).

The following day, Wednesday, May 14, Gasly completed 103 laps, with the morning again dedicated to understanding the wet tires, while the afternoon focused on discovering the intermediate tires on a track that had once again been artificially watered. This time, his best time was set at 1:31.457, more than six seconds faster than the previous day.

After covering some 900 kilometers in two days, Pierre Gasly will head to Montreal in the coming days to compete in the fifth round of the season (May 22-24). As for Pirelli, the next round of testing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16 and Wednesday, June 17 in Barcelona, ​​two days after the Catalan Grand Prix, which will be held on the same circuit as the seventh round of the 2026 season. Formula 1.

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