Pierre Gasly sets ambitious goal as surprise F1 rivals targeted

Pierre Gasly has expressed hope Alpine can put pressure on McLaren and Ferrari after the summer break this year.

Alpine sacrificed its 2025 campaign to focus its resources on 2026 and the construction of its car under a fresh set of technical regulations.

It has bagged 15 points across the opening three rounds courtesy of Gasly, leaving the team fifth in the constructors' standings.

Like the other teams, Alpine is using the ongoing April break to carry out work at its factory as it looks to resume the season in strong fashion.

But Gasly has placed a target on the summer break later this year as a timeline for Alpine to make the next step.

“It’s not going to happen over the course of one month,” Gasly told the media, including RacingNews365.

“But I'd like to see ourselves, after the summer break, being a bit more of a player in that group with McLaren and Ferrari.

“[In Japan], it was seven seconds over 28 laps, [so] you're looking at three or four-tenths [per lap].

“That’s where we need to look. We know what we’ve got to improve, which is good.”

Having switched from its own Renault power unit to a Mercedes engine this year, Gasly outlined it is one significant factor it no longer needs to worry about.

“We know we don't need to care about the power unit, we get the best of what's out there,” he said.

“We need to just focus on our chassis and what we do. We’ve got a good package, [but] we’ve got to make it better.”