F1 News: Alpine aims to "be closer to third place" in 2023

Alpine wants to close the gap to the front.

Alpine's Otmar Szfanuaer has outlined the team's expectations of reducing the gap to Formula 1's top three teams for the 2023 season.

The French squad showed solid pace throughout the 2022 season, consistently fighting at the front of the midfield and securing good points. 

Reliability was Alpine's most persistent limiting factor, which significantly prolonged the battle for 4th in the championship against McLaren.

Despite establishing a strong foundation for the remainder of these regulations, Alpine still have a considerable journey ahead if they are to become front-runners in Formula 1. 

As a manufacturer team, there will be an expectation for Alpine to challenge the top three teams and demonstrate their potential and capacity to fight for wins.

As quoted by it.motorsport.com, Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has spoken about the team's aspirations for next season:

"The 100 races [plan to win an F1 Championship] started at the beginning of 2022, so from now it will be less than 80. 

"We need to continue like this, but be closer to third place than fifth in 2023. So even if we have to stay fourth, we're definitely going to have to make progress...

"I can't wait for our problems to be resolved in 2023 because it is possible to do so.

"From the point of view of the power unit, however, it is possible to intervene due to the permitted modifications, considering that they would only be made for the purpose of reliability."

With Pierre Gasly joining Alpine for 2023, next season will provide an opportunity for the team to make a statement of intent with their new driver pairing. 

It remains to be seen whether they are capable of disrupting the established order in Formula 1, but they are certainly better placed than most teams to achieve this.