Miami Grand Prix starting grid changed hours before race as team make unapproved changes | F1 | Sport

Pierre Gasly will start the Miami Grand Prix from the pit lane after Alpine opted to make set-up changes to the suspension of his A525 machine. The Frenchman was due to line up 18th following a disappointing qualifying session. Gasly enjoyed a strong sprint race coming from deep in the field, scoring a point for the struggling Alpine squad after penalties dropped Max Verstappen, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman out of the top eight positions.

However, he was unable to replicate those heroics in qualifying. The 29-year-old was the third-slowest driver in the opening part of Saturday’s qualifying session, with only Lance Stroll and Bearman behind him in the final classification. With little to lose, Alpine have taken the decision to make set-up changes under Parc Ferme conditions, meaning Gasly will start in the pit lane later today.

“It is not the qualifying result we had hoped for,” Gasly said after Saturday’s running. “We made a few changes to get the car in a better place for this session, but in the end, we were not fast enough on all the runs, so we need to analyse why we lacked in performance. There are some other details to look at, as the car did not feel the same as previously in the weekend.

“There was also a bit of traffic on my last run. I was the first to come out on my run, and that meant I had traffic in the first sector. Nonetheless, my runs were clean, but we just did not manage to be fast enough. It is good to get a point from this morning’s sprint race, after some cars got penalties, we moved up to P8. Now we can sit down as a team and work on preparing for tomorrow’s race.”

While Gasly’s qualifying was a miserable ordeal, Alpine will take some confidence from Jack Doohan’s performance. The under-fire Australian made it out of Q1 and will start from 14th on the grid, just two positions behind seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Doohan’s seat has been subject to constant speculation throughout the 2025 season, and the latest round of rumours followed comments from one of Franco Colapinto’s sponsors. He alleged that the Argentine racer would replace the incumbent Alpine driver after the upcoming race in Imola.

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