The 2025 F1 pre-season testing took place between February 26 to 28 at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain, with BWT Alpine duo, Pierre Gasly and rookie Jack Doohan, sharing the track across three days.
From behind the wheel of the blue-and-pink A525, Gasly and Doohan helped the team collect crucial data ahead of their 2025 campaign. They finished the final day of testing ranked fifth and ninth respectively. This showed Alpine’s remarkable progress over the winter. Unlike 2024, the team enters the season with a car that is no longer overweight and has solid pace.
A525 in a good place for the season opener
Gasly has demonstrated an impressive and stable performance throughout the three days. On the first day, his 1:31.353 saw him end the session sixth, behind Williams’ Carlos Sainz. He followed this with a 1:30.430 on the second day, before finishing pre-season with a 1:30.040. His consistency in rankings depicted a promising solid ground to advance through the upcoming season.
In his statement to the media after the final day of testing, Gasly said that the team would discuss what improvements were needed. However, he mention that he was happy with his overall performance across the three days, noting that the team was entering the 2025 season in a stronger position than they had been in at the start of 2024.
“It’s been a good three days for us in Bahrain. I have enjoyed being back together with the team and getting a feel for the A525.
“We managed to run through a lot of test items with some interesting learnings for us to discuss and understand. I think we can safely say we are in a much stronger position going into 2025 as we were last year.
“In general, I feel happy in the car and that is a good place to be ready for the season opener. There is a lot of things to take forward from here going into the first race in Australia. I am pleased and now I am just eager to get the season started.”
Going into Melbourne with confidence
Gasly’s rookie teammate, Jack Doohan, also participated in pre-season testing, completing his first F1 shakedown. He finished 14th on Wednesday with a 1:31.841, before following up on Thursday, with a 1:30.368 to finish eighth, ahead of Gasly. Doohan concluded his testing experience on Friday morning, finishing the day 12th with a 1:31.239
Though his teammate’s performance across the three days was more stable, Doohan’s was not bad for a rookie. Nonetheless, both individually and as a team, Pre-season testing has yielded more knowledge on what to expect from the car and driver for 2025 and the improvements needed.
Speaking after the event, Doohan remarked that he had enjoyed the pace of the car and would step into 2025 season confidently.
“A lot of hard work and hours go into testing so thank you to the entire team for a good week in Bahrain.
“We had three smooth days with no issues and the car ran well all week, which meant we could achieve plenty of laps and plenty of mileage. We collected a lot of great data and, on a personal side, I took on some useful knowledge to apply in Australia for the first race.
“Conditions have been mixed all week but that’s good to put us all through our paces. I am going into Melbourne with confidence. There is much more to come and we’ll aim to keep working hard and keep progressing as a team.”
A good base to work on
Alpine Team Principal, Oliver Oakes also addressed his team’s performance in pre-season testing. He remarked that pre-season testing rarely gives the full picture of what the season would look like for the teams. However, he acknowledged that it provided the teams with the data to better understand and enhance their car.
Oakes stated that Bahrain has been a productive experience for the team and they learned which parts of the car they will need focus on to progress. However, he added that pre-season tests had demonstrated that they have a good base to build the season on and that their attention was now on the start of the season in Australia.
“It has been a good and productive three days for the team here in Bahrain. A lot of hard work has gone into this test both behind the scenes at the factories in preparation, as well as in the execution trackside by our dayshift and nightshift crews.
“Testing is never easy to fully understand where you stand in the pecking order. We’ve really focused on ourselves this week and I am pleased with the things we have learnt and how we have progressed across the three days.
“We have a good base to work from and a solid foundation to start the season. Both drivers completed plenty of laps, which is important for them and also good to get mileage on certain components to test reliability. Now, we’re looking forward to debriefing back at base next week before attention turns to racing in Australia.”
