Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan have admitted feeling positive after a strong Friday at the F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
After ending the team’s point-less start to 2025 in Bahrain, Alpine entered the Saudi Arabian F1 GP hoping for another points finish. The A525 chassis is suited well to the Corniche Circuit, with Renault’s power unit deficit not a factor. Pierre Gasly demonstrated the potential Alpine has for this weekend by topping the first practice session.
Speaking after FP2, Gasly said the team still had work to in order to be competitive during night running. However, he stated his confidence in the car after a solid Friday.
“For sure, it’s always great to top a session. Personally I had a great feel with the car straight away from FP1, it felt like I had the package to really push on this track which is very high speed and quite tricky, but the car was there straight from the start. FP2 a little bit more difficult to put the lap together and struggle a bit more with the grip out there.
Obviously tomorrow we know that’s the session that matters in the night, a bit colder conditions, so it feels like there is a bit of work to do there, but overall I’m very pleased with this Friday.
Gasly admits Alpine has work to do before qualifying
Gasly did not have an issue-free Friday, however. When asked about a brake problem experienced in FP2, the Frenchman described the issue as “normal”.
He also confirmed that a second successive Q3 appearance is a realistic possibility.
“A couple of things with switches and I think generally on brakes I’ve been struggling a little bit today. Normal stuff, we try to improve session after session, but I’m sure it’s going to be fixed for tomorrow.:
“I think the Q3 is on the table, it’s very tight, Carlos put on a strong lap tonight, so I think the Williams are looking like Albon was faster in P1.
“It looks like this track with their car, we know they’re quite efficient on this low drag type of track, so I think clearly they’re going to be in the mix, but hopefully we can be with them.
“I know this afternoon I wasn’t too far and it feels like there was room for improvement, so hopefully we can really nail it tomorrow.”
A more challenging Friday for Jack Doohan at F1 Saudi Arabian GP
Team-mate Jack Doohan admitted he still has work to to feel comfortable in Jeddah. finishing 16th in FP1 and 17th in FP2.
“A lot to debrief, a lot to go over, I think the medium isn’t so bad, I’m still not as comfortable as I’d like to be, and on the medium we’re not too far away, we’re a tenth and a half, two tenths and usually you can correct a little bit of that with my driving and the soft.
“We’re just not seeming to click at the moment today, so not really able to take a step forward and just not feeling so comfy, so we’ll have a good look into it tonight and we have tomorrow still in FP3 to sort all and iron all our issues out before qualifying.
Despite his struggles on Friday, Doohan believes he too can progress to Q3 during qualifying.
“To be honest I think still looking at the potential of the car, if I can be where I am on the mediums, on the softs, I think we can still be potentially pushing for Q3 and in the top places between P7 to P10 there, I just need to get comfy on that soft tyre and make sure that I’m able to maximise it.“
