Alpine complete maiden run with their A525 in Manama
Alpine joined Mercedes, Haas and Aston Martin at the Bahrain International Circuit on Monday in completing the maiden run with their brand-new A525 ahead of the three-day pre-season testing.
Having revealed the livery of their new car during F1's presentation show in London last Tuesday, Alpine has now performed the initial shake down run with the A525 in Bahrain.
Both Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan split the 200km-restricted programme as part of the team’s shakedown for its first of two filming days for the 2025 season. Today’s running also brought the first on-track occasion for its fleet of new partners including Eni, MSC, OAKBERRY, Mercado Libre, Arctic Wolf, Castore and MODO Casino who join title partner BWT on the team’s striking A525 livery.
The team will be back on track with the A525 on Wednesday 26 February as the three-day pre-season testing begins in Bahrain. The Australian driver will first take driving duties on Wednesday before his French team-mate goes on track in the afternoon and on Thursday morning. The son of the five-time MotoGP champion will be back in the A525 on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning before the one-time F1 race winner rounds off the test on Friday afternoon.
Commenting on the first run with the A525, Gasly stated: “It is a great feeling to be back on track and driving the A525 for the first time. Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to this car and all the hard work that has gone into preparing this season.
"It is only a shakedown, limited running, so it’s not like we are driving the car at its full potential but the initial feeling felt smooth and I am just looking forward to getting going and having a proper run later this week for official pre-season testing. I must say, the new colours look really cool so I hope everyone enjoys seeing the A525 in action.”
Reflecting on the maiden run with the new car, Doohan noted: “We have had a good first day on-track here in Bahrain and I am sure everyone at the team feels really excited to be back and ready now to start the season.
"It is my first time driving a shakedown day so a great experience, especially driving on track with the filming vehicles! The car felt good so thanks to everyone at Enstone and Viry-Châtillon for their time and dedication in getting ready for 2025.
"I know Pierre and I are really excited for Wednesday and beginning pre-season testing. It will be three busy days where we have many things to run through in order to develop the A525 ahead of the season start.”
Ahead of his first full season as Alpine's team boss, Oliver Oakes commented: “It is always a moment of pride when a new car goes on track for the first time so well done to everyone at Enstone and Viry-Châtillon for their hard work in developing the A525 ahead of this season.
"Despite the overcast and strong gusts of wind, we have had a good day’s running in Bahrain with 200km completed split evenly between Pierre and Jack. It is important to give them a first go each and allow them both to have a first feeling at the wheel ahead of a busy three days of testing later this week.
"There are certainly multiple areas of interest for us to keep learning and progressing and we look forward to continuing the hard work beginning on Wednesday with Jack driving the morning and Pierre the afternoon.”
