Alpine Struggles with Pace – No Points in Japan

The BWT Alpine Formula One Team endured another pointless outing as both drivers finished outside the top 10 at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Pierre Gasly came home in a disappointing 13th place, while young Australian Jack Doohan climbed from P19 to finish 15th.

Gasly started 11th on medium tyres and switched to hards on lap 24, but a slow pit stop cost him valuable track position and momentum.

“The car felt well balanced and we did what we could, but we just lacked a bit of pace throughout,”
said the French driver after the race.
A close battle with Fernando Alonso on the opening lap set the tone for the rest of Gasly’s afternoon – tight racing, but no rewards.

Doohan’s race was more of an experimental run from the back of the grid. The team opted for an aggressive strategy: starting on softs, followed by a long stint on hards.

“We got the maximum out of the strategy and had good race pace, even in traffic. I learned a lot,”
said Doohan.
He noted, however, that his tyres were fading toward the end, making it tough to fend off faster cars.

Team Principal Oliver Oakes described the weekend as “far from ideal” but highlighted that the team had made progress since the opening two rounds. With the Bahrain Grand Prix already coming up next weekend, Alpine is hoping for a turnaround.

“We had strong test results in Bahrain earlier this year — this could be our chance to turn things around,”
Oakes added.

While Alpine has yet to hit its stride in the 2025 season, the team remains optimistic that ongoing improvements will gradually translate into points and better qualifying results. For now, Alpine continues to sit outside the top 8 in the Constructors’ Championship..

Our team may have used AI to assist in the creation of this content, which has been reviewed by our editors.