Alpine travels, Gasly dreams big: “The next goal is Ferrari”

Alpine surprise 15 points collected in three races and an eighth place in the drivers’ standings are Pierre Gasly’s calling card in a 2026 that has begun under the best auspices for Alpine, after the farewell to the Renault engines and the transition to the much desired Mercedes power unit. Between Melbourne, Shanghai and Suzuka the French driver collected almost three quarters of the points from the entire last season, when he finished in 18th place with just 22 points in the standings. And that the A526 is a completely different world compared to the cars that preceded it is also demonstrated by the sarcastic gesture of Max Verstappen who, having been overtaken by his former teammate during the last Japanese GP, also raised his hand in greeting, aware that he would no longer have the impetus to return to Gasly’s attack. Pierre Gasly thinks big In short, an unexpected start to the season as the fourth force on the grid for Alpine, even if the ranking places the French team in fifth place behind Haas and on equal points with Red Bull. Not that this is the ultimate goal of Pierre Gasly, who instead after the Suzuka race commented enthusiastically on his “mid-group victory” (he was the first of the non-Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren drivers), raising the bar in view of the next outings on the calendar. “I’m very happy with the fact that our car – he explains, revealing his desire to compete even higher in F1 – is performing on all types of circuits, it’s something that gives me a big boost in terms of confidence. At Suzuka I was around three or four tenths a lap behind Lewis Hamilton, but Ferrari is our next target. We have to do everything in our power to be able to catch them.” “At the moment the gap is certainly still too wide to be seriously involved in the fight for the podium, but after the summer break I would very much like to see Alpine in the same group as McLaren and Ferrari,” concludes Pierre Gasly.