Why Sunday was so special for Alpine F1

Alpine entered last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix as the only Formula 1 team still seeking their first points of the 2025 season.

Thanks in large part to an impressive qualifying performance, that saw Pierre Gasly start the Grand Prix in fourth while Jack Doohan rolled off the line in 11th, the team brought those first points home, as Gasly finished seventh. He was sitting in sixth as the race wound down, but lost the position after a late battle with Max Verstappen.

Now the team hopes to be back in the hunt for points at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the last race of the season’s first triple-header.

“It’s great to leave Bahrain with points on the board after three challenging races at the start of the season. I’m very happy for the team after we executed a very competitive race,” said Gasly in the team’s media preview. “The strategy and pit stops were very good, and the car was too, we can certainly build on this in the upcoming races. The timing of the Safety Car was not ideal, and it was bittersweet to be passed by Max at the end, but I’m still pleased for the whole team.

“The triple-header continues in Jeddah this week and we hope to show our competitiveness again. The circuit is fast, and the high-speed corners should hopefully play to our advantage, similarly to Bahrain.”

The result in Bahrain also illustrates Alpine’s stunning turnaround over the past few months. When the 2024 F1 season began in Bahrain last year, Gasly and then-teammate Esteban Ocon were mired at the back of the grid, both drivers starting the race in the last row.

A year later, the team returned to the Bahrain International Circuit fighting for points.

“Our turnaround from 2024 to now has been a great achievement but we still have a lot to understand about our car. We’re aiming for another top 10 finish in Saudi Arabia and I’m looking forward to getting back out on track already,” added Gasly.

However, things were a bit bittersweet on the other side of the garage. Doohan turned in his best qualifying performance in F1, missing out on his first Q3 appearance by just 0.017 seconds. He started the Bahrain Grand Prix in P11, but could not crack the top ten for his first F1 points.

Still, he called the Bahrain Grand Prix a “positive weekend” for the team. “It was a positive weekend in Bahrain for the team with the car really competitive and Pierre securing points for the team in seventh place. On my side, I was happy with the general performance, but left disappointed with the end result as some things just did not go our way,” said Doohan. “We had our best Qualifying result as a team and for the majority of the race both cars were fighting in the top 10, which goes to show that we are capable of putting ourselves in the mix and fighting for points.

“We were unfortunate with the final result on my side of the garage. We were hampered by the time of the Safety Car as we had built a decent margin with the undercut and had good track position but going up against those on fresher, Soft tyres towards the end proved too difficult to hang on for points.”

The rookie then turned his attention to Saudi Arabia, noting that similar to Bahrain, he has extensive experience driving the tricky Jeddah Corniche Circuit from his Formula 2 days.

“Our focus shifts to this weekend in Saudi Arabia to close out the triple-header,” added the rookie driver. “Once again it is a circuit I have prior experience at from Formula 2 and with its fast and flowing nature it will be important to use that knowledge to lock in from the start of the weekend and make the most of the positive momentum we have to bring in more points for the team.”

Finally, Gasly took a moment to highlight another huge accomplishment for the team on Sunday. While Alpine broke through with their first points of the season, another member of the team finally secured a lifelong dream.

Winning the Masters.

“On another note, I really enjoyed staying up late to watch the end of the Masters and I’m delighted for Rory McIlroy, one of our investors, to finally secure the green jacket,” added Gasly. “Congratulations to him!”