After crossing the finish line with an impressive seventh-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Alpine driver Pierre Gasly took a moment to reflect on the team’s growth.

It was at Bahrain in 2024 that Alpine hit “rock bottom,” he said — so while Gasly had been hoping for a slightly better finish, he had nothing but praise for the crew that brought him success at Sakhir.

Bahrain 2024 was Alpine’s “rock bottom,” says Pierre Gasly

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Coming to the checkered flag in Bahrain, Pierre Gasly lost out on sixth place by just a hair to the Red Bull Racing machine of Max Verstappen. While there was plenty of “frustration” accompanying the last-moment pass, the Frenchman was able to step back and look at the whole affair with a clear head.

“Crossing the line was kind of like mixed feelings because I absolutely hate losing a position on the last lap, especially after having to work so hard over the last 20 laps, trying to keep Max at bay,” Gasly told media, including PlanetF1.com, after the race.

“It’s always frustrating but on the other side, once the adrenaline comes down a bit — looking back last week, we were not even fighting for the top 10, and Max was winning the race.

“It just shows how much of a good weekend we’ve had as a team. The car was competitive. Quali was amazing. The race was great — good strategy, good pit stops, and even with that unlucky timing with the safety car where we lost the position to Lewis in the end, still a lot of positives to take.”

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Pierre Gasly nabbed a strong fourth-place start in qualifying and was able to convert it into Alpine’s first points-paying finish of the F1 2025 season despite being caught off guard by a safety car thrown for debris.

“When I saw for what it was, like, I’m sure we’re going to talk about it,” Gasly said of the safety car.

“At that time, I had a nice gap on Max, I had a nice gap on Lewis and the guys around.

“It’s like, we worked all the race, and now for a few bits of carbon… ultimately that’s racing. Even though it didn’t all come our way, we still managed to finish that race P7, score our first points of the season, which is very positive.”

That strong finish was a great moment for reflection on the last year, which saw significant gains in the Alpine camp after the 2024 season started off poorly.

“Last year I must say it was kind of like hitting rock bottom, you know — both cars 19 and 20,” he said of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.

“I think Max probably lapped us after half race last year.

“Very different picture 12 months later, we were fighting with him until the last lap.

“So I’m very pleased with the sort of effort the team is putting in and the performances we’re able to extract.

“We know where the current weaknesses are. We know there is some work to do in the car, like some areas which not quite click, like low speed traction, all this stuff — areas where we need to improve.

“But the overall performance of the car, massively improved and it’s just thanks to all the great work people are doing at the factory.”

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