“We maximized the potential we had in our hands… and then some.” This is the bitter observation made by Esteban Ocon after his 13th place at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 9. Bitter, because the Alpine cars seem unable to get anywhere near the top 10 – synonymous with points – at the start of the season, while the French team finished in 6th place in the constructors’ standings last year. The prospects for progress are unclear as we approach the third meeting of the season in Melbourne, Sunday March 24 for the Australian Grand Prix.
The first official releases confirmed the concerns: the pink and blue car is the slowest in the field. As a result, several changes were made in sporting management, with two resignations and three appointments announced in early March. A second wave which follows a first reshuffle last August, and which above all illustrates the difficulty in finding continuity in the sporting project for several years. Especially since the two drivers in place, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, are at the end of their contracts at the end of the season, and the French team does not yet know who will be sitting in the seat in 2025.
Back off to better blow up ?
After a down 2023 financial year, with a car whose performance plateaued and two places lost in the manufacturers’ standings, Alpine decided to start from scratch for its 2024 livery, in the hope of closing the gap on the best teams . “We only kept the steering wheel”, summarized Pierre Gasly at the microphone of Canal + after winter testing on the Sakhir circuit (Bahrain). Cyril Abiteboul, former director of the Renault-Alpine team (2016-2021) and consultant for France Télévisions, agrees: “If we are no longer able to improve the car, it is entirely legitimate to want to change direction, particularly by observing the other teams.”
Unable to keep up with the teams they were ahead of last year, the Alpine have been suffering since the start of the season. “From time to time, you have to take steps back to be able to take bigger steps forward, illustrates Cyril Abiteboul. But be careful, this is not a guarantee.” The A524, which was supposed to be a one hundred and eighty degree turn compared to last year’s car, ended up going badly, and Alpine is going backwards.
The 2024 livery left with a notable handicap: a Renault engine that was less powerful than that of all its competitors. “If we remove the rear wing, we will go very quickly on the straights, so anything is possible”, quipped Pierre Gasly at the microphone of RTBF in Bahrain. This was a known weakness, and which we will still have to come to terms with next season, since engine development is frozen until the new regulations of 2026.
Problem, the new aerodynamic concept does not compensate for this speed deficit, nor does it offer the expected grip.. Add to that a few extra kilos on the scale, and you get the least efficient car in the field, with limited room for improvement: “The general rule is that the car gains mass during the yearexplains Cyril Abiteboul. When we make aerodynamic developments, generally, they add weight even if they improve competitiveness. It’s difficult to work on both fronts.”
The big shakeup
As a result of this catastrophic start to the season, or planned reorganization, Alpine has decided to take action. In a press release, released on March 4, the team announced two resignations, including that of technical director Matt Harman, and three appointments. The car was poorly designed, we need to change the thinking heads. This is essentially what Bruno Famin explained a few days after this reshuffle, in Saudi Arabia: “Finding yourself on the last row during qualifying was a shock [les Alpine sont parties 19e et 20e à Bahreïn]to be honest, and it confirmed the need for change in our team”.
For two seasons, everything has changed in the organization chart, and even several times in certain positions. Laurent Rossi left his seat as CEO of Alpine to Philippe Krief in the summer of 2023. At the same time, Bruno Famin became team director in place of Otmar Szafnauer, who himself succeeded the doublet Marcin Budkowski -Davide Brivio at the start of 2022. The technical directors of Viry-Châtillon (engine factory) and Enstone (chassis factory) have already changed identities twice since 2021.
In motorsport, change is frequent, of course, but rarely so frenetic. Above all, successful teams follow another recipe: Christian Horner has been director of the Red Bull team since entering F1 in 2005, and Mercedes has trusted Toto Wolff since 2013.
The invisible hand of Renault
In Formula 1, success comes to those who wait. “Being a manufacturer is also an additional pressure, we have felt it for Alpine for many years and I have known itconfides Cyril Abiteboul. It’s a project that must be built over time.” At Renault, successive reorganizations have sometimes deprived those who asked for it of time. Otmar Szafnauer, former director of the French team for one season, confided to ESPN after his departure from Alpine last summer: “I had a timetable in mind to change the team, to make it better. I thought this timetable was realistic, because I know how long it takes. I’ve done it before. I think some members of the Renault management had a shorter timetable in mind.”
“Managing time, inertia and time pressure at all levels is what is most difficult to manage in motorsport.”
Cyril Abiteboul, former director of Renault F1 and consultant for France Télévisionsat franceinfo: sport
The new team boss, Bruno Famin, must embody a vision that is finally lasting, despite the poor results this year. He himself seemed to have little taste for Renault’s interventionism, in his interview with The Team on March 4: “I have a lot of respect for Luca de Meo [PDG de Renault], but I believe that here at Viry, as at Enstone, no one needs additional pressure. We know very well that we cannot stay where we are.”
The promotion of engineers from the team, who are entrusted with the technical management of Enstone, seems to be part of a new internal development strategy to quickly return to the race. “When you bring in someone from the outside, it takes a few years before they can have an impactexplains Cyril Abiteboul. In the case of Alpine, it’s more people who come from within, and that’s reasonable. They know the team, its strengths and weaknesses. The calendar will be broken down into months rather than years.” Enough to raise the bar in view of the new regulations, which will reshuffle the cards in 2026?