Pierre Gasly implores Alpine to 'focus on the right target' in F1

Pierre Gasly has urged Alpine to set its sights on closing the gap to Red Bull and McLaren, rather than simply consolidating its position at the head of the midfield battle.

The Frenchman delivered an impressive seventh-place finish at the Japanese Grand Prix, holding off four-time F1 drivers' champion Max Verstappen for the entire second half of the race after the safety car bunched the field.

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, ahead of the Suzuka weekend, Gasly made clear his ambitions extend further than fighting Haas and Racing Bulls for midfield honours, having previously said he is ready to battle for titles.

"I think we are in a situation where we have two options: looking at how close the competition is behind, and making sure that we remain on top of the midfield, which in itself is not easy, because we've seen Haas is a fierce competitor, VCARB [Racing Bulls] has been strong at times, but I'm more interested in the fight ahead," he said.

"And Red Bull was definitely raceable in China. In Australia, there was a bit more of a gap. But then, even McLaren, on pure pacing in China, wasn't too far ahead."

Alpine have made a remarkable turnaround in 2026 after finishing last in the constructors' championship with just 22 points last season.

The switch to Mercedes power units and an early focus on the new technical regulations have propelled Team Enstone to 16 points from the opening three rounds, leaving it fifth in the standings, on an equal footing with Red Bull.

Gasly has been the driving force behind that points haul, collecting 15 of the team's 16, including a sixth-place finish in China and his result in Japan, where he finished just 0.337 seconds ahead of Verstappen after withstanding intense pressure throughout the closing stages.

"I can sense more potential," the one-time grand prix winner said. "And if you ask me, coming into a season, I always want what's best.

"I think what's difficult in Formula 1 is to be satisfied with being in the midfield or being on top of the midfield, because you always see someone is getting more, and you'd like to join the fight.

"Ultimately, I always carry that with me; it doesn't mean that I'm not appreciating all the work that has been done."

Confidence in Alpine's package

The 30-year-old acknowledged that consistency would be difficult given the varying characteristics of different circuits, but expressed confidence in Alpine's underlying potential once the team maximises the A526's performance window.

"No one will ever come and say: 'Oh yeah, this weekend we've got the fastest race car; this weekend, we've got a clear Q3 car'," Gasly said.

"There are so many different parameters, but I think, generally, from what I felt, I'm quite confident that I'm gonna have a car which allows me to race in the top 10.

"There might be one track, one weekend, certain conditions, [in which]: Okay, these cars will be probably a bit better...

"I might be proven wrong, but at the moment, I do have this confidence that there's still quite a lot of things to learn, but I'm confident that once we get on top of all of that, we've got a decent race car."

Gasly emphasised that his focus on the teams ahead represented the mentality required to make genuine progress, adding: "That's why, for me, as a team, I just want us to make sure we focus on the right target, which is to try to jump on the forward train and try to slowly close the gap to these guys, to be able to show our nose on some occasions this year."