Pierre Gasly does not think of Fernando Alonso and aims to bring Alpine 'to the top'

Pierre Gasly is excited about his upcoming stint with Alpine F1. The Frenchman claims he doesn't feel any pressure about having replaced two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at the French team. He hopes to take his new team to the 'top'.

Gasly joined Alpine as a result of the Silly Season that took place at the end of the 2022 season, which resulted in Fernando Alonso's departure from the Enstone-based squad.

Despite having big shoes to fill with his new team, the young Frenchman claims he does not even 'think' of Alonso and is focused on the new job at hand.

Alonso, on the other hand, has moved on to Aston Martin, replacing four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who recently retired from the sport. The former AlphaTauri driver will star alongside his long-time rival Esteban Ocon, with whom he will work very closely.

Speaking at the launch of Alpine's 2023 challenger, the A523, Pierre Gasly said:

“I literally don’t look at Fernando at all. He’s done this career – an incredible career – and 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."

Pierre Gasly praised Alpine's 2022 F1 car

Pierre Gasly understands why his new team Alpine finished fourth in last year's constructors' championship after driving the 2022 car at the Pirelli tire test in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Gasly explained how he was able to spot the strengths of the car. He also spoke highly of the team:

"I've done only a day in Abu Dhabi, but I can definitely spot some very good strengths in this car, and the potential that it has. They finished fourth in the championship for a reason, and now I understand this reason, not just from the package but with how the team operates."

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi hopes Gasly can become the 'technical leader' of the team and help them bridge the gap to the frontrunners of the F1 grid. The 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner was the de facto leader of AlphaTauri, helping the team grow with his experience. Rossi hopes the Frenchman can do the same for his new team.

Speaking on his expectations from Pierre Gasly, Rossi said:

“Hopefully he’s going to bring what we need, which is to continue developing the car, because at the moment, we are still pretty much in the midfield and we need to take the car a notch up."

It remains to be seen how the Gasley-Ocon partnership will get on at Alpine in 2023.