Pierre Gasly is confident that his 2025 single-seater will have a better start than its predecessor, aiming to regularly score points or make a splash, as he did at the end of last season.
Like other teams, Alpine didn’t have much more to reveal on Tuesday than the livery of its future car or the names of a few new sponsors. However, the French team did it before everyone else, five hours ahead of the show planned at the O2, in a photo studio in the hipster district of Shoreditch, in front of a large crowd of guests who couldn’t immortalize the event since a sticker had been placed on the lenses of smartphones at the entrance, so as not to spoil the upcoming stage appearance.
Those VIPs who had attended the presentation of the 2024 single-seater a little over a year ago at the Alpine F1 facilities in Enstone, two hours drive from London, were probably not surprised by the livery promised to the A525, still made of blue (with a reworked shade) and pink. However, they must have thought, seeing the personalities parade on stage, that most of the faces didn’t ring a bell compared to their memory of last year. And for good reason: apart from Renault’s CEO, Luca De Meo, and the drivers Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan (reserve driver in 2024), the family photo has changed a lot. Bruno Famin and Matt Harman are out, replaced by Oliver Oakes (team principal) and David Sanchez (technical director). Goodbye Esteban Ocon, who has moved to Haas. And welcome Flavio Briatore, who arrived mid-2024 as a special advisor and whom Luca De Meo himself introduced on Tuesday as “the boss”. As a promise that this latest organizational chart was meant to last, this time.
At Alpine, Pierre Gasly is “much more confident” than last year.
“I’m starting my third season and, since I joined Alpine, there have been many changes,” acknowledged Pierre Gasly. “With my experience, I can handle these kinds of things, but it always requires a bit more energy and a period of adaptation each time. This winter, there has been some stability, which is always preferable when you’re on a positive momentum like we were at the end of last season. I’m happy to be able to project and build on these foundations.”
Pierre Gasly
“This winter, we managed to do most of the things we wanted to do with the new car, which should bring performance.”
In just one year, Jack Doohan has gone from being a reserve driver to a full-time driver, and from the simulator to the track. However, he seems to be sitting on an ejectable seat since Franco Colapinto joined the squad of potential replacements, backed by his promising debut with Williams last year and the pesos of his Argentine sponsors. Oakes assures that he will give the Australian, who will have the privilege of starting his season at home in less than a month (March 16), time to prove himself. “I don’t think we’re putting him in the easiest situation media-wise,” Gasly observes. “I’ve tried to support him, to share my experience of these kinds of situations. He’s a good driver, who deserves to be here. The rest will happen on the track.”
And so, a lot will depend on the potential of the A525, which will have no trouble having a less sluggish baptism than that cursed 2024 single-seater that led Gasly and Ocon to the last row of the starting grid of the first GP last year. “Twelve months ago, we knew very clearly that the start of the season was not going to go well, whereas now we are quite confident,” assures the Normand. “This winter, we managed to do most of the things we wanted to do with the new car, which should bring performance. We’re happy with what we’ve found, but it’s always the same: we’ll have to see how it compares to the others. The gap with the top four” (Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes) “is significant, so our ambition is to be the best of the rest as often as possible, while hoping to pull off some surprises as we managed to do in some races at the end of last season.”
