Alpine in 2023: Far from the targets

100 races. That was the deadline that Laurent Rossi, then CEO of Alpine, had set in 2022 to bring the French brand to the status of a top team. One year later, the assessment is harsh. First, Alpine seems to be falling behind the best teams, and furthermore, its management structure has been completely disrupted mid-season. Laurent Rossi, precisely, is among those who have suffered the consequences and have been dismissed.

Like him, Otmar Szafnauer (team principal), Alan Permane (sporting director), and Pat Fry (engineer) have left. This major upheaval during the season was motivated by disappointing results linked to an inconsistent A523.

Car performance

In Formula 1, an excellent driver can (almost) do nothing without a good car. In 2023, the Alpine was not performing well enough to allow its two drivers to consistently shine. Despite their brilliant performances (podium finishes in Monaco and Zandvoort), Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon mostly had to endure an unpredictable car. The machine designed between Enstone and Viry-Châtillon seemed to be on the edge all year, with its performance level inexplicably varying between two Grand Prix races or sometimes even between qualifying and the race.

Some weekends were improved, but others on the contrary turned into a nightmare, like in Azerbaijan. The A523 clearly wasn’t a benchmark car, and the team seemed to struggle to understand it even during the last races of the season.

Alpine finishes 6th in the championship with 120 points, as far behind Williams (7th, 28 points) as behind Aston Martin (5th, 280 points). This is the worst ranking for the French team since it changed its name to Alpine in 2021. The Dieppe-based team loses two positions compared to its 4th place in 2022 due to the resurgence of McLaren and Aston Martin.

Unlike the two British teams, Alpine has never been able to bring improvements to their car that would allow them to compete with the best this season.

Reliability

The dark spot of the Alpine season lies in the (too) numerous retirements of its drivers. Esteban Ocon did not finish seven Grand Prix, including three due to mechanical reasons. The Norman driver has been incredibly unlucky, unlike his teammate Pierre Gasly who has only had three retirements due to collisions.

Apart from the issues encountered by Ocon in Singapore, Monza, and Silverstone, the A523 has been rather reliable, albeit not very performant.

Management

Human resource management has been the main weakness of the French team. Already last year, with the confusion surrounding Oscar Piastri, the team struggled to retain its resources. In the middle of the season, Bruno Famin replaced Otmar Szafnauer, and Laurent Rossi, Alpine’s director who had strongly criticized his men in an interview with Canal+, was replaced by Philippe Krief. Luca de Meo, President of the Renault Group, then asked Alpine to take action, dismissing top management including Alan Permane and also getting rid of Pat Fry, who was leaving for Williams.

On the driver’s side, it’s not necessarily better. If we knew that Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were not the best of friends, it proved to be a difficult situation to manage in certain races. The two men often found themselves on different strategies, therefore needing to overtake each other and not making things easier.

Strategy optimization

Another point to urgently improve for Alpine’s pit wall. Too many times this year, the team has hesitated, giving instructions that were not clear enough to its drivers. Gasly and Ocon, who are not exactly friends off the track, did not need Alpine to add more reasons for discord between them.

However, the team led by Bruno Famin lacked clarity in Japan by asking Pierre Gasly to give up his position to Esteban Ocon on the last lap, which angered the former Red Bull protege. In Las Vegas at the end of the season, the team tried to prevent the two drivers from battling on track, but this time Esteban Ocon turned a deaf ear to the “hold position” instruction given to him over the radio. A smart decision by Ocon, who claimed not to have understood the instruction at the end of a Grand Prix where he finished 4th. However, if he had obediently stayed behind Gasly, Ocon would have finished 12th. A questionable management decision.

On the positive side, it is also worth noting that Alpine was able to convert its opportunities to step on the podium three times. First, at Monaco, where Esteban Ocon’s 3rd place at the start could only be lost during the pit stops. Then, at Spa. In the sprint race, the team made the right decision to bring Pierre Gasly in for a tire change on the first lap of the Saturday race. The number 10 secured 3rd place behind Verstappen and Piastri. Finally, at Zandvoort, the Rouen native found himself on the Grand Prix podium after a controlled race.

Teammate duels

Qualifications: Ocon 8 – 14 Gasly

Course: Ocon 10 – 11 Gasly

For his first season in the blue (French national team), Pierre Gasly managed a rapid adaptation. From his first race in Bahrain, where he started last, the Normandy-born driver climbed back into the points, while his teammate, burdened by penalties, didn’t finish the race. This race was a reflection of the season for both men. Gasly was able to maximize almost everything, whereas Ocon was plagued by tremendous bad luck (7 retirements).

However, he (referring to Ocon) has still succumbed to the dominance of his new teammate in qualifying, where the record is unquestionable. But on Sundays, Ocon has often been slightly better, particularly in tire management as seen in Las Vegas. It is worth noting that the two drivers have been involved in two incidents: first in Australia, and then in Hungary due to Guanyu Zhou. On both occasions, both Alpine cars were unable to continue.