Alpine hopes regular podiums can be the goal in Formula 1 this season even as “everyone wants to win”.
Last year, the Enstone-based team made strong gains en route to fifth in the Constructors’ standings, after a close battle with McLaren and Racing Point that was undecided until the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Another epic midfield duel awaits in 2021, but it is noticeable that, externally at least, Alpine is not being rated quite as highly as the two teams that finished ahead of them in 2020.
One reason for that could be the number of key changes made over the winter, as new management was inserted led by Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi and racing director Davide Brivio.
Also in the cockpit, Fernando Alonso returns after a two-year F1 absence to replace Daniel Ricciardo alongside Esteban Ocon.
Even so, Brivio, who joined after seven years building Suzuki in MotoGP, doesn’t believe that should stop the team from continuing their recent progression.
“Of course we want to win, everybody in the team wants to win, but we have to be realistic,” he said via Motorsport Week laying out Alpine’s 2021 goals.
“Last year we did three podiums, so we started to get close to the top positions and that’s where we have to start from.
“First of all, we have to be fighting for the podium, hopefully regularly fighting for the podium, and then step-by-step go close to the best possible position.
“Of course the final target is to win. Probably we have a route to get there and achieve this target, but that’s what we have to do.”
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The most likely path to that end goal is through the new cars which will be introduced next season after a one-year delay.
And before development was halted due to Covid-19 last year, Alpine was thought to be further ahead with their project than most on the grid.
“This year is kind of a special year because everybody is looking towards 2022, the new regulations and new cars which is under development,” Brivio said.
“So this is a kind of preparation year where we hope in 2022 to improve even more our competitiveness, but the winning is always in our target.
“I’m sure our drivers first, they want to get there. So yes that’s the target because you need to get the target, you need to have a dream, and then you need to work very hard to achieve it.”