Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan will start the first race of the 2025 Formula 1 season from the midfield after an intense qualifying session at the Australian GP.
F1 rookie Doohan will start from P14, after failing to make it out of Q2 despite the enthusiastic backing of his home crowd. Yellow flags thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s spin cost him dearly.
His more experienced teammate, Gasly, on the other hand, made into Q3 but will start the race from P9 with a lap time of 1:15.980—0.884 seconds behind pole sitter Lando Norris of McLaren.
Gasly “pretty pleased” with P9 finish in Qualifying
While it seems like Gasly is picking up where he left off in 2024, the Frenchman, while speaking in the print media zone after the Australian GP qualifying, stated that he had not yet regained the level of comfort that he had had at the end of the 2024 season.
He explained that he had struggled with the brakes during the Free Practice sessions, and lamented the lack of runs due to traffic.
Though satisfied with the team’s recent progress, the Alpine driver, now entering his third season with the team believes that improvements are needed and possible.
“Could not really get the same feeling as we had in Bahrain a couple of weeks ago. We haven’t had clean sessions with traffic and a couple of brake issues yesterday, but just generally the cars haven’t switched on as much as they did a couple of weeks ago.
“I must say, considering all of that, I’m pretty happy with the progress we’ve made throughout the whole weekend.”
Overall, he described himself as “pretty pleased” to make it into Q3, noting that it was a difficult feat due to the fine margins between the cars, and with the A525 being less suited to tracks like the Albert Park Circuit.
“We knew it would be tough to get to Q3 with these fine margins. We made it and we managed to qualify 9th, so pretty pleased.
“It does feel that this track doesn’t suit the package as much as Bahrain, for example. I’m glad we still managed to make it to Q3.”
Gasly hoping for a wet race and a slower-than-usual Hamilton in the F1 Australian GP race
With rain predicted for Sunday’s race, Alpine is preparing to start their drivers on a “50-50 setup” to allow them a strong opening in either wet or dry conditions. Gasly himself, having earned his most recent podium finish, at the stormy 2024 São Paulo GP, is hoping for rain, knowing that he can deliver good results in the tricky conditions.
“We decided to go for a slightly 50-50 setup, dry or rain. I think today we could have got Lewis with a fully dry setup, but we know that with the chances of rain tomorrow, we kind of biassed our decision on the setup. Hopefully, it can pay off.
“We know in the rain, usually, we’re pretty strong. Last time it poured, it worked out well for us. I definitely want to see some rain tomorrow.”
When asked if Alpine’s choice of set-up had affected his qualifying session, Gasly claimed that it had not made too much of a difference. He reiterated his hopes for rain, and for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to have be slower than usual in his new car.
“No, I don’t think so. I think it’s fine margins. We’re talking on the dry, maybe over half a tenth.
“I think seven-thousandths with Lewis would have been a prediction, but I’m happy to give that away for a bit more pace in the rain tomorrow if it does come. Excited for that first race of the year.
“Hopefully, Lewis with a new engine, sitting in a new car, can be slightly slower than usual off the grid.”
Alpine set [themselves] up for a fight in the midfield — Gasly
Despite underperforming compared to other midfield teams like Williams Racing which saw their drivers Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz place P6 and P10, and Racing Bulls, which had Yuki Tsunoda place P5, Gasly believes that this is simply due to the fierce competition and fine margins between the teams.
He does, however, think that Alpine is ready to challenge both in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, though some extra work will be needed.
“It’s just such fine margins.
“I think the RB really pulled it out of the bag, Tsunoda in 5th. We have not seen that coming after Bahrain. They looked reasonably good, but to be that fast, I think only two-tenths off the Red Bull, that was quite impressive.
“We knew the Williams would be fast, but I would say generally this weekend we seem to be slightly off them.
“I’m glad we’re still a row or two behind these guys, because in the race, we know it can be a different story. We still set ourselves for the fight for tomorrow.”
