Alpine set sights on P4 and podium finishes as bosses lay out F1 2023 vision

Renault CEO Luca de Meo and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi want to see the team take that next step towards the front of the F1 grid in 2023.

Alpine were the final team to unveil their challenger for 2023, but with the reveal of the A523 in London now complete, we have the full picture of the challengers that will head into battle in the upcoming Formula 1 season.

Last season it was Alpine finishing at the head of the midfield, claiming P4 in the final Constructors’ standings, but the goal ultimately is to climb to the front of the grid, Renault having introduced their Alpine brand to Formula 1 in 2021 following the remodelling of their works team.

“I think we did progress the first two seasons,” said De Meo at the A523 launch. “I see that the team is coming together always stronger, so I hope that kind of trend will continue.

“So our ambition is to move closer to the top, we are here for the long term, we are here to create a top team, we are here to create a solid team.

“I have the feeling speaking to Laurent, to Otmar [Szafnauer, team principal], to Pat [Fry, chief technical officer], to everybody that they are getting stronger and stronger together. I think they had a good time during the winter, they could work without a lot of issues, and so I’m pretty optimistic that we will continue the path.”

That being said, while De Meo wants to see Alpine close the gap to the top three of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, he accepts that the deficit when F1 signed off at the end of 2022 was a daunting one, Alpine finishing 342 points behind P3 finisher Mercedes.

Nonetheless, he would like to see Alpine return to the podium in 2023 with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon now flying the Alpine flag, having not scored a podium finish in 2022.

“I hope that we get closer to the top guys,” said De Meo. “We had a certain distance last year, the gap is large, so we have room for improvement.

“That’s our mission and maybe, Esteban and Pierre can get us a couple of podiums, that will make our Sunday even more joyful.”

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Rossi also acknowledges that there is a lot of work to do to reel in the top three, but says these steps need to start being made if Alpine’s 100-race plan to return to winning ways is to be realised.

P4 again in the 2023 Constructors’ standings then is the minimum target set by Rossi, who also would like to see the team return to the podium.

Generally speaking though, Rossi wants to see Alpine secure P4 with greater conviction this time, reliability issues having severely hampered the team in 2022.

“The idea is, two years ago when we started the Alpine story, we knew we were on a climb to the summit, and this climb to the summit is a marathon, not a sprint,” said Rossi.

“It’s going to take time to get there, we give ourselves five years more or less, which is the 100-race plan, we were fifth in ’21, fourth and ’22, naturally now we’re looking at the top spots.

“But as Luca mentioned, the gap to third was rather large and we need to bridge that gap. So we want to finish fourth again, very minimum target assignment for all these guys. And I know they can do it.

“But this time in a more like robust fashion, like more finishes, less retirements, less DNFs, more points, and possibly more podiums to make our life sweeter. Also, because we really need to get to that stage if we really want to aim at podiums permanently, so we’re going to continue learning and improving, momentum is key.”