Alpine promises a completely different 2024 single-seater

In 2022, Alpine finished in fourth place in the constructor’s standings, with a 14-point lead over McLaren and 118 points ahead of Aston Martin. But last year, Alpine dropped to sixth place, lagging behind the Greens by 160 points and the Papayas by 182 points. The team only secured two podium finishes during the year, with Esteban Ocon taking third place in Monaco and Pierre Gasly doing the same in Zandvoort.

Not only did the Renault engine not improve in reliability compared to 2022, but the team also experienced internal conflicts after a decrease in performance on the track. After denouncing some team’s carelessness on the sidelines of the Miami Grand Prix, Laurent Rossi was pushed out of the F1 project while remaining within the Alpine fold.

During the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Pat Fry, Alan Permane, and Otmar Szafnauer were all dismissed from the team with immediate effect. Bruno Famin has been appointed as the team’s executive director for the remainder of the season and is still in position as the 2024 season begins in just over a month.

The car is completely new from front to back.

Alpine aims to compete for the title from 2026, but before that, with the new motor and chassis regulations, the French team wants to challenge for podium finishes like Aston Martin and McLaren did last year. Matt Harman, the technical director of the blue and pink team, provided an update on the challenges faced by the team in 2023 and announced that the 2024 car will be completely new.

I think we have been a bit overwhelmed in terms of aerodynamics by other cars. At the beginning of the season, we closed part of the gap on the teams we targeted, but there were other teams that made a bigger leap than us. We didn’t really take control of the car until the second, third, maybe even fourth race, explains Matt Harman.

We have a highly competent track engineering team, working in collaboration with the factory, but it took us some time to get used to it. It’s not because it’s difficult to set up, it’s because the window is so narrow. So you have to make compromises and it’s delicate, explains the technical director of Alpine.

« We did not perform as well as on the A522. We had an excellent year that year, every time we worked on car development, we added aerodynamic support and removed a lot of weight from the car. There was a lot of performance to be had, continues the Brit.

« That’s why for the 2024 car, we had to unlock support again. That’s why the car is completely new from front to back. You will see that at the top and bottom of the grille because the car needs to last a few years as we look towards the future, announces Matt Harman.