Perhaps the most unexpected performance of the Bahrain GP weekend was fifth place in qualifying for Pierre Gasly and Alpine, which later became fourth on the grid after Kimi Antonelli was penalised.
Hitherto the team’s best one-lap performance of the season was Gasly’s ninth in Australia, and in China neither driver even made it out of Q1. In the race there Gasly lost the chance to move from 11th to ninth in the final results when the two Mercedes drivers were disqualified when he was himself excluded for skid wear.
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With no points on the board after three events and the team firmly last in the World Championship the pressure was mounting. Gasly was able to put that that right with a strong drive in the Bahrain race.
However he was still in sixth and holding off Max Verstappen until losing out to the World Champion on the very last lap. It was frustrating for the Frenchman, but six points was still a decent haul.
“Crossing the line was kind of like a mixed feeling,” he said when I asked him about losing out. “Because I absolutely hate losing a position in the last lap, especially after having to work so hard, like over the last 20 laps, trying to keep Max at bay.
“So yeah, it’s always frustrating. But I think on the other side, once the adrenaline is going to calm down a bit, looking back last week, we were not even fighting for the top 10, and Max was winning the race.
“So it just shows how much of a good weekend we’ve had as a team. The car was competitive, quali was amazing, the race was great. Good strategy, good pit stops, and even with that unlucky timing with the safety car, where we lost the position to Lewis, in the end still a lot of positives to take.”
Gasly admitted that the timing of the safety car was annoying, especially given that it was dispatched for debris rather than anything more serious.
“When I saw for what it was… I’m sure we’re going to talk about it. At that time, I had a nice gap on Max, I had a nice gap on Lewis and the guys around. And it’s like, we worked all the race, and now for a few bits of carbon – actually, I think, if I’m not wrong, Yuki had a contact, and it actually gave him a 10-second reduction on his pit stop time. So it was a nice gain for some guys!
“Ultimately, that’s racing, we’ve got to get on with it, and that’s the way it is. Even though it didn’t all come our way, we still managed to finish that race in P7, and score our first points of the season, which is very positive.”
It was made even sweeter by the change in form since Bahrain 2025, which admittedly was a little earlier in the season as the opening race.
“Last year, I must say, it was kind of like hitting rock bottom, both cars 19 and 20,” said Gasly. “And I think Max probably lapped us after half race last year. So a very different picture, 12 months later, we were fighting with him until the last lap.
“I’m very pleased, and always the effort the team is putting in, and just the performance we’re able to extract.
“We know where the current weakness is, we know there is some work to do in the car, like some areas which don’t quite click, like low-speed, traction, all this stuff, are areas we need to improve.
“But the overall performance of the car is massively improved. And just thanks to all the great work people are doing at the factory.”
The weaknesses may be apparent, but Gasly admits that he doesn’t know if the Bahrain form will translate to this weekend in Jeddah and beyond.
“I want to believe so, the reality is I’ve absolutely got no idea,” he said. “We did the winter test here. The car felt really good. I think we definitely had quite high expectations going into the season. Australia, I think we were competitive, but China and Suzuka was a lot more difficult.
“So I think it’s important for us to understand where the performance came from this weekend. And I’m sure we’ll be able to repeat on some of the tracks, but hopefully we can just get it more consistently.
“I want to believe that we can be competitive, like when you finish P7 and qualify P5 it obviously boosts your confidence.
“I think we will have to get some answers on why we were so competitive this weekend. But I’m having a lot more fun fighting with Max than fighting more towards the back…”
Points came as a relief for the Alpine management as well. This is not a team that can afford to be at the bottom of the table.
“I think we needed it,” said team principal Oliver Oakes. “It’s not lost on me that you flick on a TV, and you see your zero at the bottom.
“That just piles a bit of pressure on. We know we’ve got a pretty good car. We know this is a bit of a transition year for us as well, into ’26 not just new regs, but obviously on the PU side.
“The main thing as well the start of this year, I think we feel we’ve got a pretty good group there, the strategy has been good, the way we’re working in the team.
“And I think it was a question of when not if. We knew we’d get some points, I think Australia to walk away empty-handed there was a little bit annoying, because we’d sort of been in the mix the whole race. So this is just nice to sort of get started a little bit.”
Like Gasly Oakes admitted it wasn’t easy to pinpoint why the car was good in Bahrain, especially as there have been no upgrades of late.
“I think in fairness it’s a little bit the swings of F1. Australia, we were pretty competitive. Obviously, we walked away empty-handed with the rain and all the trials and tribulations. China was just a little bit difficult for us.
“And I think Japan, we were pretty okay. It was just one of those races where you qualify, and it was kind of processional. It’s clear to see a track like this suits us a little bit. I think that’s kind of normal in F1, you have some places you’re stronger, some you’re not.”
“It’s the same car. Obviously you learn more as you start running a car on different tracks, different conditions. I just think it’s really tight as well. I think whether that’s getting out of Q1 even, you sort of go, there’s not much in it.
“What was nice in the race really was I think we felt we could hold our own. I think it’s hard on different compounds. You can see that some suit some cars, not others. And you’ve got to focus on yourself as well.”
How the car fares on upcoming tracks remains to be seen.
“I think genuinely the car is performing,” said Oakes. “We’ve only done four races with a new car. You’re learning every week, not just how to set up the car, but also some weekends, whether it’s got a sprint mixed in as well, make it harder to put the car in the right place.”
Adam Cooper F1 