A missed stop and a still blank counter for Gasly and Alpine in Suzuka

It is not in Suzuka thatAlpine et Pierre Gasly will open their points tally in 2025. As in Australia and China, the French driver failed to finish outside the Top 10 in Japan, thus registering a third blank Grand Prix this season. However, at the start of the Japanese event, the Norman driver could legitimately claim points by starting in 11th place and showing interesting pace during Free Practice. Unfortunately, like the race as a whole, Pierre Gasly had few opportunities in this rather monotonous Japanese Grand Prix.

After losing a position to Fernando Alonso in the first round, the pilot Alpine remained stuck in the heart of the pack, unable to get closer to the Spaniard and attempt an overtake. His slim hopes of finishing in the Top 10 were definitively dashed when he made his pit stop, which was much longer than expected (4 seconds of immobilization for Pierre Gasly) and which allowed Yuki tsunoda to overtake him. The result: a 13th place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix and still no points scored for the French clan after three rounds. However, Pierre Gasly believes that the A525 showed some good things at Suzuka this weekend and he hopes to rectify this in Bahrain, starting next weekend.

Pierre Gasly (Alpine), 13th in the Japanese GP (Canal+) : "Honestly, from the inside, I think we did our best. It was a bit more complicated on the mediums, but we kept pace with the cars in front. On the hard tires, it was a bit better. We had a small problem during the pit stop that cost us some time. I don't know what happened, but we'll analyze it with the team. Overall, unfortunately, we lacked a bit of speed."

(On the missed pit stop) "It's one of the things that needs to be worked on, after that it doesn't change the race and the performance, but it's true that it cost us a position. I found myself behind Jack [Doohan] and in a fight with HulkenbergIt cost us a few seconds. We'll have to analyze the car in terms of feel: there are some good things, especially in the fast corners where we were very competitive, if we compare with Tsunoda and Alonso who finished ahead of us. There are other sectors where we lost a lot more. It's extremely close. We're going back to a circuit we know next week and we'll try to get those first points."

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