F1 News TheFoxPosts.com

New Alpine signing Pierre Gasly believes his new team have the potential to achieve " fantastic results " in 2023 and beyond. The Frenchman is moving to Alpine after five and a half seasons in F1 that have been spent driving solely for Red Bull-affiliated teams. Gasly's first run in an Alpine came at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, and the Frenchman has since talked up his prospects with the Enstone-based outfit, who moved up one place in the Constructors' Championship in 2022 to finish fourth. "I'm very confident from what I've seen that there's potential to achieve fantastic results," Gasly told media, including TheFOXposts.Com . "I really believe this team is a fresh start for me, and also an opportunity to make something amazing together. "They have had the best season so far since they came back. I think they are on a trajectory, improving season after season. "From what I've seen today, from what they...

Esteban Ocon is confident that Alpine can make the next step to challenge the top three F1 teams in the near future. After finishing fifth in the 2021 Constructors' Championship, the squad continued their progression in 2022 by beating McLaren to P4, having outscored them by 14 points. While he feels that there is still a gap to the teams ahead, Ocon believes that the result puts Alpine in a prime position to challenge the leading outfits on the grid. Ocon confident Alpine are on 'right path' "We should be the next one coming in that fight, because we are the fourth [placed team]," Ocon told media, including TheFOXposts.Com , over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. "We look to be in good shape at the moment and, hopefully, we're on the right path. "Hopefully we can continue our way of improving things, and that will be the breakthrough for next ...

Zhou Guanyu is confident Formula 1 's popularity is rising in China despite the country's continued absence from the calendar. The series was due to return to the Shanghai International Circuit this weekend for the first time since 2019, only for China's Covid regulations to force a cancellation announcement in November last year. China has since relaxed its rules regarding visitors to the country, though the move came too late for F1 to act and reinstate the race to the schedule. The continued absence means Alfa Romeo driver Zhou will again miss out on enjoying the adulation of home support, with hopes for his wait to end in 2024 should China find a place in the bustling schedule. Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the race's intended slot, Zhou conceded: "I'm disappointed but I kind of saw this coming because of the restrictions, we didn't open the border early enough. "So when we had the race scheduled for April, I knew everything was to...

Lando Norris is confident that he could challenge Max Verstappen for the title if he was in a position to do so. McLaren have faced a difficult start to the 2023 F1 season, with the team struggling to score points until a tumultous Australian Grand Prix allowed both Norris and Oscar Piastri to finish within the top 10. Away from the track, various changes have been made to the outfit's structure. It was confirmed in March that Technical Director James Key had left the team, and that the role has since been split into a three-headed structure of technical directors headed by Peter Prodromou, Neil Houldley and David Sanchez, with the latter set to join in January 2024. Norris acknowledges that things have not gone as well as hoped for McLaren so far in 2023, particularly after the steps forward made in previous years. Norris: McLaren performance below expectation "If I'm honest, I will say it's below the expectation," Norris told The Race . ...

David Coulthard is confident that Ferrari are in the right position to bid for the F1 World Championship in 2023. The 2022 campaign got off to a strong start for the Scuderia, with Charles Leclerc taking the lead in the Drivers' standings after winning two of the opening three races. However, a series of issues including strategic mishaps, driver errors and reliability concerns led to Ferrari 's challenge falling away, while Red Bull and Max Verstappen took the momentum en route to claiming both the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships. In terms of why Ferrari 's season went off course, Coulthard believes that this may be down to the team not having being used to regularly fighting at the front for some time. "There might be an element of just not being match fit, having not operated at that level [for a while]," Coulthard told the Mirror Sport . " Ferrari are the most famous name in Formula 1 , and have been the longest running...