Alpine F1 Faces Challenges - Gasly Off Pace in FP2

Alpine F1 shows mixed results in Abu Dhabi, with Gasly struggling in FP2 and Doohan still adapting to the A524’s rhythm.

Alpine F1 began its defense of 6th place in the Constructors’ Championship with a strong 5th place in Free Practice 1 for Pierre Gasly. However, in Free Practice 2, the Frenchman dropped to 12th, with both Haas cars clearly ahead of him.

No cause for concern at this stage… but “we have more work than usual after today’s sessions in Abu Dhabi.”

“FP1 was solid. We completed multiple laps with a car that had good potential. FP2, however, was very different. I struggled with understeer and front-end grip in general. We tried a few things, but didn’t find many improvements. We are slightly out of our setup window, and the feeling was the same with both low and high fuel loads.”

“As always, the times are tight, and a few tenths will make a big difference. We’ll work hard to find the right changes and aim for better performance when it matters tomorrow.”

Jack Doohan’s task was to acclimate to the A524 on this circuit and build up his pace for tomorrow. His 19th place in both FP1 and FP2 was not surprising at this stage.

“It was primarily a great experience in the car here in Abu Dhabi on a very busy day. There’s a lot to understand and learn, and it was good to get plenty of laps across the two sessions. FP2 was obviously unfamiliar territory for me! I just tried to build up my pace, and my first laps in that session weren’t the cleanest, but that’s what testing is for. There’s progress to be made for the team before FP3, and I’m looking forward to debriefing with the engineers to find those improvements. My goal is to feel more comfortable with each lap and continue to approach the level I’m aiming for. Thanks to the whole team for their hard work.”