Bruno Famin changes Alpine’s objectives: “What we want is to be there in 2026.”
The new interim team director of Alpine, Bruno Famin, has clarified the team's ambitions in Formula 1. While he doesn't want to start from scratch, he aims to be among the best by 2026.
In Spa, Belgium, Alpine continued its cleaning up. Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane have both been dismissed by the team, due to Alpine’s unachieved objectives. This change occurred only a few days after Laurent Rossi was ousted from his position as CEO of the Alpine brand. Bruno Famin, who has temporarily taken over as Team Principal of Alpine, has set the ambitions of the French team in Formula 1 without a time limit. Laurent Rossi had indeed set a goal of 100 Grand Prix before returning to the top.
« Personally, I don’t reset the counters to zero, but I don’t even set them at all,” he declared. No counter, in other words, no goals in terms of the number of races to become competitive. No pressure to perform better? Perhaps, but the pressure is already firmly rooted on Alpine’s shoulders.
After a promising 2022 season in terms of performance, the team had high hopes of progressing and improving reliability to establish itself as a leading team. However, the opposite happened. Already behind Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari, the French team found itself lagging behind Aston Martin and McLaren in the first half of the season. Alpine currently sits in 6th place in the constructors’ championship, far from the set objectives. With these numerous reshuffles, the team hopes to break its glass ceiling and establish itself as a leading team.
Take advantage of the 2026 rule change
Bruno Famin wants to impose a real dynamic in the team’s progression, by reducing pressure and increasing results. The upcoming regulation in 2026 could be welcome for Alpine: significant changes often occur during these periods. « The important thing is progress over time, constant improvement. There is a regulatory deadline in 2026, and we know that upheavals in the hierarchy often occur during such changes, » stated Bruno Famin.
« So, what we want is to be there in 2026. That doesn’t mean we don’t have any ambitions before then, we want to make progress in every race. » Alpine will have to do a huge amount of work if the French team wants to be back at the front next year and in 2025. It’s not impossible if we look at what Aston Martin and, more recently, McLaren have achieved. The ambitions are there, the results are waiting.
