Gasly and Doohan Determined to Break Alpine’s Points Drought with…. read more
Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan are remaining optimistic about their chances of scoring their first points of the 2025 Formula 1 season, despite another point-less outing at the Japanese Grand Prix. The team is currently the only one yet to register a point this year, with Gasly’s 11th-place finish in Australia still standing as their best result.
At Suzuka, Alpine experienced another challenging weekend. Neither car made it into Q3 during qualifying, and the team’s race pace wasn’t quite enough to fight for the top 10. Gasly crossed the line in 13th, while Doohan finished 15th. However, there was a silver lining—it marked the first race weekend of the season where both Alpine cars finished classified.
Gasly reflected on the race, saying he felt he had extracted the maximum from the car. “There were a few things to analyse,” he commented. “I felt like we did everything we could inside the car. There was a small issue during the pit stop that we’ll need to review, and overall, we were just lacking that bit of pace to break into the top 10. It wasn’t miles away, but it still wasn’t enough.”
For Doohan, the race presented a significant challenge. The young Australian missed FP1 and crashed early in FP2, leaving him with limited running, all on low fuel, before Sunday’s race. Given the circumstances, he remained positive about his performance.
“We can’t be unhappy,” said Doohan. “There was very limited track time and no high-fuel running before the race, so it was a bit of a leap into the unknown. We went aggressive with the strategy, aiming for the undercut, which worked, but it made the last 25 laps tough with the hard tyre wearing out.”
Despite tyre struggles late in the race, Doohan was able to hold off Nico Hülkenberg for position, although he couldn’t keep Carlos Sainz behind when the Spaniard closed in on fresher soft tyres.
Looking ahead, both drivers are optimistic about their chances in Bahrain—the venue that hosted pre-season testing and a track more familiar to the team. Gasly believes the upcoming race offers a good opportunity for a reset. “It’s a track we know well, so it’s a chance to reset after three tough weekends. Thankfully, we race again next week, and we’ll be aiming for those points.”
Doohan echoed the sentiment, expressing his determination. “I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve just got to keep working hard as a team and keep pushing to get those first points.”
