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Formula 1

Motorsport

Formula 1: Signing off for now on what has been quite a journey from Jack Doohan at the hands of the embarrassing Alpine mis-management games 

by Sports Benches

The man lucky enough to get out of the Alpine circus games who now leads the Drivers’ Championship with McLaren: Oscar Piastri.

The man too good for Alpine and would be in a top team maybe he could be Oscar’s team-mate if Lando leaves at some point: Pierre Gasly.

And unlucky to be kicked out to the curb also by this same mismanagement circus (it’s on both Flavio and Luca – very disappointed & utterly embarrassing): Jack Doohan. 

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Here’s hoping someone can help him get back to Formula 1 at another team like Andrew Forrest, who owns the Western Force in Super Rugby, and has deep pockets to put in $$$ at what’s best. 

Meanwhile, Alpine with Flavio and Luca are clearly not good enough & don’t belong in Formula 1 when all of those mis-management circus games puts them deservedly last on the grid and they better sell up ASAP like to Rich Energy’s William Storey – a passionate F1 fan. 

Sure, the decision from Renault to close down engines which is absolutely ridiculous has put him off unfortunately after preparing one for around a year. 

But surely, Mecachrome can cover his costs to build and assemble one instead 100% and they’re still as much as passionate to Formula 1 likewise with Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Audi, Cadillac and Red Bull-Ford Powertrains unlike Marketing-only & un-serious Renault.

At the end of the day, Oscar is your man for all things F1 – go get em!

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Motorsport

Formula 1, Miami 2025: Alpine to blame for Jack Doohan’s DNF after an embarrassing weekend from top to bottom

by Sports Benches

What a let down by Alpine once again stabbing behind Jack Doohan’s back and the same goes to Pierre as well.

This weekend at Miami was a race where he always got the best out of his one-lap pace in qualifying that got himself ahead of Pierre Gasly for the first time but then he was stuck in a sticky situation with thanks to Liam Lawson from the Racing Bulls-Honda on the very first lap out at Turn 1.

Just admit the only time Alpine can really be winning the midfield is through luck as no use going back to the jackpot Sao Paolo race last year.

They’re in between Sauber to Racing Bulls level at the back end of the grid to be honest and not even close to Ambitious Aston either with Williams or Haas clearly favourites for the 5th best in the Constructors’ Championship.

Meanwhile, Oscar is happily living the dream and guess what? He’s won yet another race and has continued to stretch his lead in Drivers’ Points with McLaren.

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Motorsport

Formula 1, Miami 2025 Saturday: Jack Doohan to start 14th following another Q2 with some track time on the wets earlier in the sprint race

by Sports Benches

Different Saturday for Jack with some track time under wets where nothing much happened in the 2nd sprint when Alpine let him down following a frustrating Friday but another Q2 run puts him in 14th tomorrow just four places ahead of Pierre Gasly.

While it’s not bad news, Pierre did get a single point also from the sprint over in 8th (was originally 11th) earlier in the day. 

Here’s hoping Jack can stay on track consistently & finish that race strong with his game day performance in F1 terms for tomorrow’s 57-lap race – as long as the staff get his strategy right and him not crashing out & avoiding penalties.

He has to be spot on so Jack can be there & stay inside the Top 10 points zone.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on French engine builder Mecachrome set to continue their activities in Formula 1 without Alpine but only suppling parts to Audi going into the 2026 Season

by Sports Benches

Mecachrome today has announced their intentions to remain in the Formula 1 business going into next season but with Audi as a parts only supplier despite seeing Alpine set to switch over to customer supplied Mercedes engines. 

Good for them first of all like Alpine’s most recent oil and lubricant sponsor until last year in BP and Castrol.

Things ain’t so bad over at Audi HQ through the existing halls of Sauber who is doing everything they can to hit the ground running before their first hit-out in Formula 1 level at the same time (in 2026).

So yeah, that’s another crushing loss to Renault there having ditched their own engine programme many months ago.

Even though Alpine is committed to using Mercedes for at least the next few years, I do hope Mecachrome can show Renault how it’s done as at least there’s a monitoring unit being set up. 

If Renault wants to come back someday as long as they invest it wisely with those other 50% modern hybridisation as well as the getting that engine right going at tip-top straight line speeds, it’s either Renault going completely in-house all on its own or Mecachrome taking over 100% instead. 

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Jack Doohan revealed to have own sponsorship that could help secure his future at Alpine worth €10 million according to Ralf Schumacher

by Sports Benches

1-2 days ago, Ralf Schumacher has revealed on his podcast with a renowned racing journalist together from Germany that Jack Doohan does have his own sponsorship to the table after all.

Wondering which sponsor could that be? Don’t know if one is listed somewhere on the Alpine F1’s list of sponsors page on their website or would probably assume it’s Jetcraft where his dad Mick runs the business even though Jetcraft does not appear on the A525 cars at all.

That really helps when it comes to his future at Alpine nonetheless as just hoping he can really get these good results as soon as Formula 1 is back next weekend in Miami after a long three-week doubleheader of Japan, Bahrain & Saudi.

It’s about time Jack proves others wrong including Ralf where he was almost at the thick of it in 9th at the time at the Bahrain GP two weeks ago until a safety car ruined everything while his last weekend’s run in Saudi was ruined by poor strategy and tire management. 

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So while the team do really need to help him out in order to finish races strong, Jack has to be the one delivering as still a long way to go – especially with the European rounds set to kick off after Miami next month.

And just want to point out that Ralf’s brother Michael is family friends with Jack’s legendary MotoGP dad Mick btw.

He can say whatever he wants/likes but yeah, Jack is coming after you Ralf.

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Top 5 sports items this week 24/4/25: Rodney Childers’ shock departure at Spire, Scott Parker’s links with Tottenham after PL promotion with Burnley, Super Rugby Round 11/16, Max Verstappen and Western Bears in NRL

by Sports Benches

Bummer Rodney Childers won’t be back in the No.7 pit box but Spire ain’t backing down nonetheless with all three cars in & out of Top 16 to 20 drivers’ points.

There’s always time with the win and Playoffs still a possibility as long as it’s before September where Spire has the full backing of three talented and experienced drivers in McDowell, Haley and Hocevar.

Parker back to Tottenham?

While Burnley now back to the PL, Scott Parker might not be there because of Tottenham who could get rid of Aussie Ange even if he wins the Europa final.

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Maybe it’s best if Scott helps Burnley win it all and see Leeds bottle it at the same time, then he can go considering he hasn’t been successful so far at this top level.

There’s even talk about Leeds wanting to sack Farke in order to avoid his curse record at PL level – looks like it will be advantage Parker for the title then.

Super Rugby: another golden week from the Aussie sides v NZ?

Super Rugby back for another week going the Australian teams away we hope after a few brilliant games including one that ended in a draw, although not so much for the Waratahs unfortunately v Fijian Drua away in Suva. 

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Yet, things could get even better if Reds, Brumbies and Force all beat their respective NZ teams in Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs this weekend. 

Perfect timing (mark that down) and as of Week 11 out of 16, still no NZ side win recorded yet at least on Australian soil.

Max Verstappen wants out of Red Bull?

Also, Max frustrated behind the scenes being the cut lone figure at Red Bull when McLaren in a Mercedes customer engine are leading the way via Oscar and Lando.

Would love to see him end up at Aston Martin with Honda engines + Adrian Newey again & Franco C. be the ideal one when RB have no other choice post-Max.

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NRL finally has a Perth team with assistance of the North Sydney Bears

And last but not least, Perth will finally get a NRL team in a long time with credit to the North Sydney Bears. 

That means, the Bears will be expected to play top-level Rugby League once again but looks like half of the games will be played at in Perth with other still going to be at the spiritual North Sydney Oval. 

National footprint is important for all of our Aussie sports including rugby despite losing a team in Melbourne but gotta accept it’s the best fight right now in the bid for championships and series trophies.

The big weekend other than the off-weekend of F1 starts tomorrow on ANZAC day Friday before the second last round’s matches is on a bright Saturday night at 9pm and we round it off with the shuffling decks of Talladega come Monday AM.

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Motorsport

Formula 1 2025, Saudi Arabia GP: Pierre Gasly into the wall first lap by Yuki with poor strategy and tire management letting Jack down again in 17th

by Sports Benches

Two things: Jack needs to manage his tires better as whoever calls the shots on that one needs to really help him out.

He did make up a few positions with Pierre already out unfortunately first lap thanks to Yuki, just couldn’t see him finish any better when Jeddah is much as difficult of reaching Top 10 from the back like Suzuka – same with everyone else in the midfield.

My two cents at the end of the day and don’t at Jack and even New Zealand’s Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls when he has the European races to hopefully redeem himself & will continue to support him the best possible until then. End of.

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And good on now championship leader Oscar once again with the win for McLaren over Max (2nd) & Leclerc (3rd).

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Motorsport

Formula 1 2025, Saudi Arabia GP: Jack Doohan lots to catch up from 17th following a tough weekend so far

by Sports Benches

Jack is not happy me included and so does everyone else working at Alpine including the fans cheering for the team itself other than Pierre Gasly who continues to keep in check with the Top 10 zone.

As said, that Saudi street track in Jeddah is extremely tricky in a risk v reward situation – good for some but not so much for others even if he’s a rookie at F1 level.

So far it didn’t go Jack’s way with his tire management and discipline for the wrong reasons but at least he didn’t crash though and isn’t the slowest out either.

Again, he will have to work harder from 17th on the grid and be in sync with his crew upstairs that will hopefully take 50 laps to get past his best result 13th or even better with points for the first time.

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Motorsport

Formula 1 2025: What to do from Jack Doohan to finish out races strong going forward into Saudi Arabia for Alpine-Renault this weekend

by Sports Benches

Looks like Jack Doohan will be given more chances now in that Renault-powered Alpine A525, so good news there following a huge past few days – especially with the European leg set to start later next month.

What he has to do now is finish those next races strong where he has to stay there the whole way through like he did for 2/3rds of last week’s Bahrain round.

Although his engineers do need to be in sync but at the end of the day, Jack is the one responsible to post results and needs to turn up there without any risk of punishing penalties in each and every post-race right after the checkered flag.

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Hope he can reach that next elusive step as long as he knows what to do including tire management (very crucial!) and how he can get out of these tricky situations every time the safety car comes around and not crash considering the next two rounds are also tricky street circuits too.

Top 7-8 along with more decent qualifying runs is the go from here….

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Motorsport

Formula 1 2025 Bahrain: Pierre Gasly gifts Alpine’s first points of the year in 7th with poor tire control & yellow flag pushing Jack Doohan down to 14th

by Sports Benches

Happy with Pierre with 7th that finally puts Alpine into the points for the first time of 2025 at Bahrain under lights – brilliant stuff.

He did a great job keeping up even though that A525 may not have the best fight with thanks to that okay Renault engine but at least Alpine are good to go at least in the midfield for now.

For Jack, sad from many people just to criticise him so easily when it comes to the result because he finished 14th, even if it was for the track limits penalty.

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But on paper, he was actually fighting in the points zone for the first time at least 8th to 10th – shame that last part didn’t quite work out (seen that before with Racing Bulls) due to poor tire control + a yellow flag was out at one time also.

So that’s on Alpine then…

They better continue to support whatever they can just for Jack’s sake so he can fight all along with track spots, that’s all.

And amazing to see Aussie Oscar win that race again for McLaren-Mercedes, no doubt he could be World Champion if he continues to push himself & hold off Lando & even Max against the very best.

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