Alpine arrives in Baku with an upgraded car, even after the accident in Melbourne
Otmar Szafnauer, boss of the Alpine F1 Team, ensures that the accident involving their two cars in Australia did not prevent them from implementing an upgrade program in Azerbaijan.
Three weeks after the double accident of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, which deprived Alpine of important points, the factory took advantage of this long break to start replenishing its stock of spare parts.
Szafnauer insists on the positive points
Szafnauer admits that there was a risk that this additional work would delay the car update for Baku. Ultimately, the team was able to adhere to its initial schedule and produce enough copies of the new parts for this weekend. From a sporting point of view, he prefers that this incident occurs early in the season: “If this incident had occurred two races from the end and you were fighting for fourth, third, or fifth place, the impact would have been greater,” he states on the podcast F1 Nation.
The Romanian-American boss reassured himself by explaining that they were able to stay with Sainz’s Ferrari.
Even when he had the DRS at his disposal and even while staying ahead of Stroll’s Aston without the assistance of the DRS. He also wants to commend the reactivity of the engineers at Enstone. They didn’t wait for a report indicating that this was damaged, that was damaged, that we had to replace these suspension elements or a front wing.
“The two chassis were repairable,” continues Szafnauer, emphasizing that the damage bill did not compromise the team’s 2023 budget. “Within our budget cap, we anticipate allocating a percentage of our budget towards damages caused by accidents.”
Baku: the best place to bounce back
After a three-week break, Pierre Gasly took the opportunity to catch his breath, assess the past season with the team, and keep his eyes fixed on what awaits us, just like Matt Harman, the team’s technical director. It was good to have a little break after the Australian Grand Prix to debrief and analyze the entire weekend. Obviously, it didn’t end well for us, but there are many positive points to take away from this weekend, and we are fully focused on our ability to bounce back in Baku.
Alpine, which benefits from a significant top speed, hopes to bounce back on the streets of Baku. On the grounds of his last Formula 1 podium, Gasly hopes to take advantage of this crazy circuit for Formula 1 to erase the bitter taste of the last Grand Prix. You never know in Baku… anything can happen! I visited Enstone in recent days and I am excited about what the team is bringing and what we have in preparation. It’s time to keep our heads down, work hard, and aim for good performances that will be rewarded with what we deserve!
