Disaster at Alpine as well: Pierre Gasly disqualified and penalty for Jack Doohan in F1 Chinese GP. Alpine, like Ferrari, leaves China with a zero in the standings for two different reasons.

Not just Ferrari
Ferrari’s double disqualification at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix overshadowed the same decision by the stewards against Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was also excluded from the classification for the same reason as Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari—being underweight. Unlike Leclerc or Hamilton, however, the Frenchman had not finished in the points, making the impact less severe than Ferrari’s, which leaves Shanghai with wounds to heal before heading to Suzuka.

Unexpected degradation
Two races completed and no points scored for Gasly, who analyzed the team’s struggles while remaining hopeful for the next race in Japan: “It was a tough race, and like last week, we finished 11th, just outside the points,” he said. “Unfortunately, after the race, a technical infringement led to our disqualification. In terms of the race itself, though, I think tire degradation probably caught most teams by surprise, as it was much lower than expected, making a one-stop strategy feasible. We extended our second stint after an early pit stop and made it to the checkered flag without any reward. Overall, it was a challenging weekend where we weren’t as competitive as we wanted to be. We will analyze these first two race weekends as a team to see what went well and what we need to improve. Twice now, we haven’t scored points, and we know we need to get better—I’m sure we will. Next up is Japan, where we’ll try to come back stronger and move up the field.”

Already at risk
Jack Doohan, meanwhile, feels increasing pressure over a potential mid-season replacement. After finishing 13th due to the disqualifications of his teammate and the two Ferrari cars, the Australian received two penalties over the weekend. Alpine is currently the only team yet to score points in the Constructors’ Championship. “It was good to complete the race distance with the car this weekend. There were a lot of lessons to take from the race. Our pace was positive, especially towards the end, and it was nice to have some good battles. We showed our potential in race conditions by holding off Isack Hadjar for over 20 laps, especially considering their speed all weekend. It was unfortunate to receive the penalty we did, and we’ll review it to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Overall, we’ve made progress as a team during testing and in the first two races, and clearly, there are many areas where we can improve. We’ll put our heads down and prepare for Japan in a few weeks, hoping to bring home some points for the team.” – he concluded at the end of the Chinese GP.