Pierre Gasly has set the ambitious target of mixing it with McLaren and Ferrari at the front of the Formula 1 field with a raft of mid-season updates at Alpine.

Alpine endured a dreadful 2025 season, with the team openly focusing all its efforts on the vastly different regulations of the current campaign.

While not alone in this, Alpine has so far been one of the teams to benefit most from an early complete switch of attention, with Gasly finishing in the points in all three grands prix so far, including a highest result of sixth place, set in China.

With 15 points already in the bank, the Frenchman is just seven shy of his 2025 total – a figure that made up the entirety of Alpine’s haul.

Despite five weeks of development time back at the factory before a return to action at the Miami Grand Prix in May and a desire for further performance, Gasly is cautious not to expect too much too soon.

“I think to me, it’s not going to happen over the course of a month, but I would like to see ourselves after the summer break being a bit more of a player in that group with McLaren and Ferrari,” said Gasly.

“In Japan, the gap was still too big for me to really take part in that fight, but seven seconds over 28 laps, you’re looking at three-fourth tenths, and I think that’s where we need to look at.

“The car was a bit tricky in the race, I wasn’t as comfortable as in quali. I was struggling a bit in high speed, which we know is a bit of a limitation for us at the moment.

“So we know what we’ve got to improve, which is good. We know we don’t need to care about the power unit, we get the best of what is out there, and we just need to focus on our chassis and what we do. I think we’ve got a good package, we’ve just got to make it better.”

Gasly spent the majority of the Japanese Grand Prix defending from his former Red Bull team-mate, Max Verstappen.

Such have been Red Bull’s struggles so far this season, that the team has dropped significantly from its front-running position, and now sits sixth in the constructors’ standings, behind Haas by two points, and level with Alpine, but behind due to Gasly’s seventh place at Suzuka.

“I’m just happy because the car seems to work on all types of tracks really, so I think there’s definitely a good boost of confidence,” added Gasly.

“I haven’t been at the factory yet, but hopefully, they all enjoy seeing us fighting for this type of position. It’s quite different to last year, and hopefully, it gives that boost to really put the work in and get ourselves in even better shape in the coming months.”

Pierre Gasly has set the ambitious target of mixing it with McLaren and Ferrari at the front of the Formula 1 field with a raft of mid-season updates at Alpine.

Alpine endured a dreadful 2025 season, with the team openly focusing all its efforts on the vastly different regulations of the current campaign.

While not alone in this, Alpine has so far been one of the teams to benefit most from an early complete switch of attention, with Gasly finishing in the points in all three grands prix so far, including a highest result of sixth place, set in China.

With 15 points already in the bank, the Frenchman is just seven shy of his 2025 total – a figure that made up the entirety of Alpine’s haul.

Despite five weeks of development time back at the factory before a return to action at the Miami Grand Prix in May and a desire for further performance, Gasly is cautious not to expect too much too soon.

“I think to me, it’s not going to happen over the course of a month, but I would like to see ourselves after the summer break being a bit more of a player in that group with McLaren and Ferrari,” said Gasly.

“In Japan, the gap was still too big for me to really take part in that fight, but seven seconds over 28 laps, you’re looking at three-fourth tenths, and I think that’s where we need to look at.

“The car was a bit tricky in the race, I wasn’t as comfortable as in quali. I was struggling a bit in high speed, which we know is a bit of a limitation for us at the moment.

“So we know what we’ve got to improve, which is good. We know we don’t need to care about the power unit, we get the best of what is out there, and we just need to focus on our chassis and what we do. I think we’ve got a good package, we’ve just got to make it better.”

Gasly spent the majority of the Japanese Grand Prix defending from his former Red Bull team-mate, Max Verstappen.

Such have been Red Bull’s struggles so far this season, that the team has dropped significantly from its front-running position, and now sits sixth in the constructors’ standings, behind Haas by two points, and level with Alpine, but behind due to Gasly’s seventh place at Suzuka.

“I’m just happy because the car seems to work on all types of tracks really, so I think there’s definitely a good boost of confidence,” added Gasly.

“I haven’t been at the factory yet, but hopefully, they all enjoy seeing us fighting for this type of position. It’s quite different to last year, and hopefully, it gives that boost to really put the work in and get ourselves in even better shape in the coming months.”