Fernando Alonso surprised the F1 world last season when he announced that he would be moving to Alpine for 2023 to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel.
In the end, the Spaniard’s departure from the team looked like the best option for all parties, as the relationship between Alonso and his teammate Esteban Ocon has turned toxic.
After a long legal dispute with Oscar Piastri, the Australian was eventually allowed to join McLaren, forcing Alpine to look elsewhere.
The French team impressively managed to pry Pierre Gasly away from AlphaTauri and despite facing the daunting task of replacing a legendary driver such as Fernando Alonso at Alpine, the 27-year-old has suggested that he is unfazed.
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“I literally don’t look at Fernando,” he said.
“He’s done his career, incredible career, and then I’m just looking at myself and my own career.
“I want to be world champion one day, I want to win races, I want to bring Alpine to the top and that’s all I’m focusing on.
“So the team has learned a lot with Fernando, which is good, and [they] will carry whatever they can from him going forward in the future.
“And then it’s up to us now with Esteban to work in the best way possible to keep that evolution and keep the progress we’ve been seeing over the last few years, and closing that gap to the top three.”
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With Gasly and Ocon in the cars, Alpine will have high hopes for the upcoming season, having slowly improved since their introduction into F1 back in 2021.
Last year’s best of the rest finish will give Alpine hope that they can kick on this season and challenge for podiums, with McLaren’s Lando Norris having been the only driver outside of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari to have stood on the podium last year.
Both Gasly and Ocon have tasted F1 success in their career with shock wins in Monza and Hungary respectively, giving both drivers aspirations to return to the top step of the podium.