Alpine seek to reverse Melbourne setback with points in Shanghai

Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan both showed promising pace in the Alpine A525 at Albert Park but were unable to convert it into points, with the Frenchman finishing outside the top 10. The Australian, in only his second GP, smacked the wall, in treacherous conditions (albeit for all) on the opening lap in his home Grand Prix.

The team now turns its focus to the Shanghai International Circuit, where they will face the challenge of a condensed Sprint weekend format. Gasly remains optimistic about Alpine’s potential after a competitive showing in Australia, where he reached Q3 in qualifying and ran in the top 10 before a late downpour reshuffled the order.

Gasly said in the team's preview: “It was disappointing to leave Melbourne without scoring points after showing promising pace across the weekend in a variety of conditions. The heavy rain during the final laps decided the result after we had reached Q3 and were running in the top 10 for most of the race.”

Despite the setback, the Frenchman is encouraged by the overall package and looks ahead to Shanghai with confidence: “I am pleased with the overall package and am confident heading to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the year. With only one hour of practice, we will be quite limited, but we are hoping to hit the ground running and improve.

“The Shanghai track is very interesting with the technical opening to the lap – the very long first corner is one of the trickiest of the season – and the long back straight. We hope to be competing in the top 10 from Friday morning," added Gasly.

Doohan, who made his Australian Grand Prix debut last weekend, acknowledged the challenges but took positives from the experience, despite crashing out on the opening lap.

“There were lots of positive learnings to take from the weekend in Melbourne,” he said. “Although the result of the race was not what we wanted, the pace of the car gives the team confidence going into the season ahead and I am excited to bounce back this weekend in Shanghai," said Doohan.

The Australian has previous experience at the Shanghai International Circuit, including a race win in Asian F3, and is eager to take on the challenge in Formula 1 machinery: “I have fond memories of the circuit from past visits, including a win in Asian F3, and it will be a fun challenge in a Formula One car.

"We will face the different format of a Sprint weekend in China, so the challenge will be to make the most of the one Free Practice session we will have to maximise the weekend as much as possible," added the Australian.

With Alpine looking to translate its Melbourne pace into a points finish, the team’s focus will be on adapting quickly to the Sprint format and optimising performance from the outset in Shanghai. They need to do a far better job collectively than they did Down Under.