Alpine endured a frustrating Sprint Quali in China, with rookie Doohan outqualifying Gasly — but both out in SQ1.
It was a challenging start to the Sprint weekend for Alpine F1 in Shanghai, with both cars dropping out in the first segment of Sprint Qualifying (SQ1). Jack Doohan managed to outpace teammate Pierre Gasly, but both drivers were eliminated early — a tough blow for the team.
Doohan, filling in for the weekend, placed 16th, just ahead of Gasly in 17th. Despite the setback, the young Australian remained optimistic.
“It wasn’t the result we were hoping for, but I’m happy with how the car felt overall. A few things didn’t go our way today, especially the traffic on our push lap. Still, we’re staying focused and aiming to make the most of the Sprint tomorrow. Luckily, I got a solid amount of running done in Free Practice before we hit a technical issue, and that helped me get comfortable with the track — especially with the new high-grip surface. The car’s performance has been consistent, so we’ll go through the data and look to improve in qualifying tomorrow.”
Gasly echoed Doohan’s frustrations but believes the pace is there.
“It’s a disappointing result, especially for the team. The car felt good, and we had the speed, but traffic on the out lap cost us precious time. These small things make a big difference in such a tight midfield. We had made good progress between practice and qualifying, and I genuinely believe we could’ve pushed for SQ3. We’ll give it everything in the Sprint — it won’t be easy to move up, but we’ll fight hard and shift focus to a strong showing in the main qualifying session. I’m confident we can bounce back.”
Alpine’s Head of Trackside Operations, Dave Greenwood, admitted the outcome doesn’t reflect the team’s true pace — but sees reason for hope.
“Looking at the timing sheets, it’s disappointing to have both cars out in SQ1. But that doesn’t tell the full story. Pierre and Jack both got caught in traffic on their final runs, which really hurt their lap times. With only an hour of practice, we still made solid progress on setup and balance. Credit to the team for getting Jack back on track so quickly after his issue earlier. Starting further back makes the Sprint more of a challenge, but we’ll push hard and see what we can recover.”
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Alpine Crumble in China Sprint Quali Shock Exit
Alpine Crumble in China Sprint Quali Shock Exit
