Former F1 driver Damon Hill reacted to Alpine's Pierre Gasly claiming to be the World Champion in the 2026 F1 season. He stated that the French outfit has the resources to make a powerful car and battle at the front of the grid in the future.
Gasly shocked the entire grid earlier in Bahrain after qualifying in P4 for the race. He eventually finished P7, and that was his only point-scoring race so far in the season. He has been part of the Alpine crew since 2023 and has managed to score two podiums so far in his stint with the team. Although he often puts the car in points, it is tough to say if the team is capable of fighting at the front of the grid.
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However, Pierre Gasly suggests otherwise. Speaking to the media, he dropped a major claim, mentioning that he could be the World Champion "next year" with the regulation changes, and also hinted towards Alpine's strong performance.
"I've said next year I can be world champion," Gasly said (via RacingNews365). "So yeah, I believe Alpine has got what it takes to fight at the front of the grid."
Reacting to his statement, 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill quoted Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German writer (Hill seemingly misquoted, mentioning Napoleon Bonaparte in his story).
"I think it was Napoleon who said 'Boldness hath genius'," Hill wrote.
This quote, loosely attributed to Goethe and W.H. Murray (the latter wrote this in one of his books, attributing the sentiment to Goethe), simply breaks down to "boldness has genius." However, the situation was quite different for Gasly during last weekend's race in Jeddah.
Pierre Gasly reviews incident with Yuki Tsunoda in Saudi Arabia
The 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP was expected to be another race for Alpine to score points in. Pierre Gasly was set to start in P9 with Yuki Tsunoda right ahead of him in the Red Bull. After the lights went out, the Frenchman battled to make a few early passes in the race, however, he tangled with the RB21 in front of him.
Gasly was then seen heading into the wall as the damage ended his race on the first lap. Although Tsunoda was expected to carry on, he then retired the car in the pits. Reviewing the incident, Gasly stated that he doesn't need to say a lot considering the situation, but also mentioned that he had a good line into the corner.
"There’s no need to say too much about it," Pierre Gasly said (via MotorsportWeek). "I know him. It was never intentional but on my side, I had a good line coming into Turn 4, I could brake quite late and try and leave as much space as I could on the outside of Turn 4."
"So I already have the car pass the white line. I had to keep my two wheels inside the track to make sure the pass was done. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a tiny touch, but it’s just a shame it’s put a stop to both of our races," he added.
It turned out to be yet another tough day for Alpine as their other driver, rookie Jack Doohan, also stayed out of a point-scoring contention. The French outfit currently sits in 9th place in the Constructors' Championship with just 6 points in their bag.
