Alpine settled into pre-season testing at Sakhir with Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan completing an impressive 140 laps on day one, covering 758 kilometers at the wheel of their new-spec A525 charger.
Doohan handled the morning session, running 68 laps with a best time of 1:31.841, finishing 14th.
Gasly took to the track in the afternoon, completing 72 laps and setting his best personal time of 1:31.353, securing sixth spot overall.
Despite a red flag interruption in the afternoon due to a power failure around the circuit, Gasly reflected positively on a productive opening day.
"It’s been a solid day’s work even if our afternoon was a little interrupted with the red flag", commented the Frenchman.
"It was good that the session was extended and we could complete our programme without missing out on any track time. The car felt good right away and I am pleased with the initial feeling at the wheel."
"Everything worked as expected and we began to explore different set-ups which gives us some direction for the rest of the week.
"I’m definitely looking forward to continuing the work in the morning and targeting another productive day alongside Jack."
After assuming his morning workload, Doohan was delighted to kick off his season in earnest.
"I enjoyed being in the car and really having a good feel for everything across various set-ups and compounds", explained the Aussie.
"A massive thank you to the whole team at Enstone and Viry for their work over the winter and having the car ready and prepared for this test.
"I’ll be supporting the team and watching closely in the morning before I am back in the car tomorrow afternoon looking to continue working through the programme.”
Testing continues on Day 2, with Gasly scheduled for the morning session before handing over to Doohan in the afternoon.
The team remains focused on fine-tuning their understanding of the A525’s performance as they prepare for the upcoming season. Stay tuned for more updates as Alpine progresses through pre-season testing.
Read also: McLaren and Norris top Day 1 of pre-season testing in Bahrain
While Mercedes spent the first week of the 2026 shakedown in Barcelona looking like a…
Pierre Gasly is adding a new kind of horsepower to his career. The Alpine F1…
Sweden's Jo Bonnier, who was born on this day in 1930, enjoyed a career in…
While the stopwatches and spreadsheets provided the hard data, the visual spectacle of the 2026…
Netflix is gearing up to transport viewers back to one of Formula 1’s most volatile…
The 2026 Formula 1 era roared to life in Barcelona this week, offering a first…