“We’ll fight for fourth”: Alpine boss confident of challenging rivals Aston Martin in WCC despite a forgettable result in Bahrain GP

Alpine had an underwhelming start to the 2023 season, given the progress the team made last season. The French outfit left Bahrain with a ninth-place finish for Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon failing to reach the checkered flag.

Despite the setback in the season opener, team principal Otmar Szafnauer remains optimistic about defending their fourth-place finish in the constructor's standings last season. Szafnauer was confident that the team could lead the midfield if both their drivers qualified in the top ten.

Speaking after the Bahrain GP, Szafnauer said (as quoted by motorsport.com):

"Pierre qualifies where he can qualify, and we’ve got both of them in the top 10, then I think we’ll score plenty of points, and then we’ll fight for fourth."

The Enstone-based team entered the 2023 season with ambitions to cut the gap to the top three teams. However, Aston Martin has clearly out-developed them, successfully beating Mercedes and Ferrari.

Fourth place in the constructor's standings already seems far-fetched, with Aston Martin having made a huge jump in performance.

The Alpine team principal believes they have to out-develop their rivals. He said:

"Now we just need to out-develop them, so we can close the gap to those guys"

Alpine suffered a torrid start to the season as Gasly qualified for the Bahrain GP in last place. While Gasly suffered on Saturday, Ocon's race on Sunday was plagued by penalties due to a myriad of reasons. Ocon eventually retired from the race.

Gasly's points-scoring finish was the only silver lining for the team on Sunday. Reflecting on the race, Szafnauer said:

"I think we were about 16 behind Bottas at that point, and we caught him but couldn’t overtake in the end. So I think that stint worked well. Looking at it from an optimistic standpoint, and say if Pierre had started ninth, we would have beaten Bottas for sure."

Szafnauer's optimism isn't misplaced as the team can score solid points if both the drivers have efficient weekends.

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Alpine team boss unsure about the pace

Although Otmar Szafnauer has a positive outlook for the rest of the season, he is unsure where the team stands against its rivals.

While Esteban Ocon's race was hampered by countless penalties, Pierre Gasly's charge through the field was impressive. His final stint with the soft tires highlighted Alpine's potential pace.

The 58-year-old team principal said:

"We still don't know its true pace because of some of the operational things that happened in the race"

He added:

"So, I still don't know where we are relative just because we're out of position with one car and the other car had the problems we talked about. I don't think we're far off."

Alpine will be hoping for a better performance at the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah next weekend.