Pre-season testing in Formula 1 gives drivers a maximum of 12 hours to get used to their new cars ahead of the upcoming campaign.
The 2025 F1 grid is arguably more spread than ever when it comes to experience with three complete rookies in the paddock racing against Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton who have more than 750 Grand Prix starts between them.
While McLaren are considered to be the fastest team after testing, they’ll be keen not to get carried away before the season begins.
McLaren have made some interesting design choices and only after the first few Grand Prix will they know if those decisions have paid off.
While the majority of Formula 1 fans are interested in who will win the drivers’ championship, many of the racers on the grid will already know that’s an unrealistic target.
Instead, they’ll be concentrating on the only battle that really matters to them – beating their own teammate.
For some drivers – such as Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto – their relative inexperience compared to George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg respectively is going to make this a difficult challenge.
However, McLaren have already discussed using team orders to try and separate Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri if necessary and Hamilton will want to defeat Charles Leclerc during his first season at Ferrari.
Testing has already given an interesting insight into the difference between each driver and journalist Ronald Vording, speaking on the Autosport Podcast, spotted a difference in the approach of both Alpine drivers in Bahrain.
As if the pressure on Jack Doohan wasn’t already ramping up, he looked off the pace compared to Pierre Gasly after three days at the uncharacteristically cold Bahrain International Circuit.
Jack Doohan ‘struggled’ compared to Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly during Bahrain testing
Reflecting on the results of the test, Vording explained that the £1.5m-a-year Doohan’s efforts weren’t quite on the same level as Gasly.
He said: “Alpine, one year ago, a car with almost no paint on it, massively overweight.
“And now here they put in, especially I have to say, there’s a difference between Pierre Gasly, who looked quite impressive and Jack Doohan, who was struggling, maybe a little bit more.
“But overall, the car looks much more like a stable platform.
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“Also, if you go trackside in terms of turns nine and 10 if you compare it to one year ago, it was all over the place.
“And now it’s more stable. It’s not overweight anymore. So I think in the midfield group, probably Williams and Alpine, are the two teams to look out for.”
Jack Doohan heading into the Australian Grand Prix fighting for his F1 future
Between the two Alpine drivers, they completed 405 laps during the three days in Bahrain, with Doohan narrowly completing more mileage (209 laps vs Gasly’s 196).
However, while it’s hard to read too much into the lap times without knowing engine modes, fuel levels and any technical tweaks, Gasly was just over three-tenths faster than his teammate.
The Frenchman’s quickest time was a 1:30.040, set on the final day of testing, while Doohan’s best lap was a 1:30.368 set on the previous day.
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Alpine will know that the gap between the two drivers needs to be narrowed from the Australian Grand Prix onwards.
The grid has converged to such a point that even losing a hundredth of a second to your teammate could be the difference between a row on the grid or reaching the next stage of qualifying.
Doohan is under no illusions that he’s facing considerable pressure from Franco Colapinto on the sidelines at Alpine.
He needs to quickly put himself in a position where he’s impossible to drop but that will be easier said than done.
