Alpine expands its technical team
The French team has just recruited 3 new people for its technical team, former executives from Red Bull and Ferrari. An opportunity to try to increase performance and get closer to the top teams.
After the enrollment a few days ago of Flavio Briatore as a special advisor, the Alpine team continues its groundwork and transformation period with 3 prestigious recruitments to strengthen its technical department.
Top recruits
First of all, former Red Bull aerodynamicist Michael Broadhurst is joining the French team as chief aerodynamicist. This transfer is significant considering his experience and expertise, which will be a valuable asset for the team. Indeed, he previously held the position of CFD engineer (Computational Fluid Dynamics, therefore fluid mechanics engineer) and spent 4 years at McLaren as an aerodynamicist between 2016 and 2021.
It’s also a return to Enstone for him after having spent 7 years there, from 2009 to 2016 with the former Lotus team, still in the aerodynamics department.
Another new recruit from Red Bull: Vin Dhanani, who will be in charge of performance for the team. A former supervisor for suspensions and director of performance at Red Bull, the Briton intends to help the team regain its former glory: “New job, new office, new responsibilities. Same objective: make the car faster,” he recently explained. Dhanani had already been able to work with the team based in Enstone between 2006 and 2011 as a performance engineer, which was his very first experience in Formula 1.
The latest transfer comes from Ferrari and concerns Italian Jacopo Fantoni who arrives for a role as deputy chief engineer. Former head of the simulation group for the Italian team, Fantoni has already worked alongside David Sanchez during his thirteen years in Maranello, within the design office. His expertise in simulation and design is a definite asset for Alpine, which aims to optimize its technical performance and move closer to the front positions.
A reinforced technical structure to reach new objectives
These three recruits will therefore join the technical department of the team with missions focused on aerodynamics, performance, and car engineering under the direction of David Wheater, Ciaron Pilbeam, and Joe Burnell, themselves under the supervision of the new technical director of the French team, David Sanchez.
This new organization, started at the beginning of 2024 after the departures of Dirk de Beer and Matt Harmon early in the season, aims to improve team synergy while maximizing efficiency to achieve better results.
“We have decided to make organizational changes, as we clearly see that we are not where we want to be or where we should be in terms of performance. This new structure will bring better work and better collaboration in our technical fields to contribute to the performance of our factories on the track,” explains Bruno Famin about this new initiative orchestrated by Alpine.
Alpine is therefore actively preparing to meet the future challenges it will have to overcome with a strengthened technical and aerodynamic department in order to regain a prominent position on the starting grid.
