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Alpine team principal Otmar Szafneur has said that the French team aims to win the title in the next 80 races. They had had a successful season, finishing the championship in fourth as the best midfield team in the grid.
When asked by RacingNews365.com on what the target would be for the 2023 season, Szafneur said that at the start of the season, Alpine had set the target of winning a championship in 100 races. Now, at the end of the first season, the team has less than 80 races to accomplish that. He said:
"We have to be a step closer to being able to win a championship. It's what we wanted to do in 100 races - and we've now got less than 80 to go. Right now, we are fourth but (14 points) away from fifth, and it is still marginal, but we need to be closer to third next year. We need to be closer to third than we are fifth next year - even if we stay fourth, we've got to make progress (on closing the gap to third)."
If they produce a machinery capable of fighting for the title, Alpine do have a driver confident of fighting the best for the title. In a recent interview, the team's lead driver Esteban Ocon said that he's confident of taking on Red Bull's Max Verstappen in a competitive machinery. He said:
"I am convinced of that, and I have to (be). If you don't believe in yourself, you are already hopeless in this sport. I have a contract until the end of 2024, and this team is going to do everything it can to close the gap to the top. I have confidence in that and am fully committed. I'm not driving here to compete, but I'm growing every weekend. Moreover, the gaps between the teams will become smaller and smaller in the coming years."
Ocon (92) finished eighth in the driver championship in 2022.
Can Alpine compete for the title?
It's an interesting proposition for a team to come in with a five-year plan on winning the championship.
Alpine have set that plan keeping the 2026 F1 technical regulations change in mind. Before the regulations come in, though, there are still other aspects where the team will need to improve.
These aspects include putting together a better race execution in place. That was something that caught Ferrari out tremendously this season.
To add to that, while it's safe to say that drivers like Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are solid performers, there's still a question mark over how they perform against some of the supreme talents in the grid. Alpine are growing as a team and in the 80 races the team from now, they will have to put a lot of those pieces in place to ensure a title triumph.
