Matt Harman knows that Alpine knows they won’t win by simply copying the RB19

Alpine is on the right track to development. Matt Harman, the technical director of the French team, believes that the stable has a good appreciation of the capabilities of the reigning world champion Red Bull, the RB19, in order to draw inspiration from it. The engineer also believes he understands why the other single-seaters were faster.

If enthusiasm seems to inhabit Matt Harman, the technical director temporizes on the situation. Alpine is coming out of a very complicated season, with big reliability issues. In this context, the tricolor team finished in 6th place in the championship.

« We believe we have understood the RB19 very well », claimed Pat Fry’s successor. « We understand our direction, but I think we also understand the other cars on the grid. There are also other fantastic cars that have undergone really interesting developments. In the end, if we only follow the competition, we’ll never be in front of them. We must draw inspiration from others, but also follow our own path. »

A very different single-seater

For the 2024 season, Alpine is expected to opt for a very different model than that of the previous season. The A524 will have a completely modified architecture. Moreover, due to cruel lack of performances, especially from an engine point of view, the French team’s engineers should focus more on aerodynamics and handling in corners. The 2023 season saw very few improvements made to the A523. However, the new parts developed over the course of the year are made to fit perfectly with the next car.

« The chassis and the suspension mount, or main casing, caused us some problems in terms of volume », analysed Alpine’s technical director. « Not just for what other cars have in terms of intellectual property. For our own ideas and our own development, it was somewhat limiting. We had planned an update of the floor later in the season, which we ultimately decided not to do, and we integrated this performance into next year’s car. To extract all the performance, we needed a bit more volume, and we did not have it in 2023. »

Despite the problems observed on the A523, especially in terms of reliability and performance, Matt Harman defends last season’s single-seater. « I think there are very beautiful things about our car », the engineer asserted. « We try to be humble. We know that we are not yet where we want to be, and we would like to talk about our areas of improvement, not just where we think we are good. To be honest, I prefer to focus only on what we need to do better, rather than boasting about the aspects where we could have been better. »

The Challenge 2026

The very imminent arrival of the 2026 regulations represents a major new challenge. As early as 2024, teams should quickly opt for the development of the 2025 single-seater. With the approach of the regulation reset, the stables cannot test the aerodynamic parts before 2025.

Therefore, teams should very quickly look into this new formula. In addition, as early as next season, teams have the opportunity to test mechanical parts for this famous season.

« I think the important thing is to look beyond the cars that you see around you », explained Matt Harman. « If we come up with a car that people see today, by 2025, it will be very obsolete. It’s really important to be inspired by what you see. But we have to aim far beyond that, to give us this two-year horizon. »