Alpine is the only team to have been slower in 2024 than in 2023 in Jeddah
The statistics are painful. In addition to having lost many positions in the hierarchy, Alpine was slower on the Jeddah circuit compared to last year. It is the only F1 team in this situation this year, while teams like McLaren have gained almost two seconds per lap.
+150 milliseconds. This is the extra time it took Alpine to set its best lap in the race at Jeddah during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024. So it is slower than its best time from last year. On a circuit that requires good top speed and downforce, therefore a perfectly tuned setup, the French team was unable to show any progress compared to last year.
Beyond therefore its underwhelming performance that positions the team at the bottom of the constructors currently in the championship, this statistic therefore shows that the team has not been able to optimize its package. At the beginning of the year, crash test issues resulted in an increase in the thickness of certain structures of the A524 chassis, directly impacting its weight. The Alpine is therefore heavy and suffers on all fronts: straight line, with a low top speed, and fast corners, with very little downforce.
With the best lap time set in 2023 of 1:33.222, Ocon and Gasly were able to take the 8th and 9th place in Jeddah. Here in 2024, with a best time of 1:33.481, Esteban Ocon could only finish 13th with a lap behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. The verdict is clear. The Alpine, in its current form, is off to a bad start.
McLaren is the team that has made the most progress in 2023 and could therefore inspire Alpine that a return to the top of the timesheets is not unthinkable. The team from Woking thus achieves a progress of almost 2 seconds with 1.88 seconds improvement. Ferrari is the second team that is making the most progress in 2024 here in Jeddah with an improvement of 1.15 seconds, slightly catching up with Red Bull, which has only improved by half a second.
Williams also showed great progress as the team improved its best lap time by over a second (1.11 seconds precisely).
Note that Aston Martin is second to last in this ranking of the most improved at Jeddah with only 270 milliseconds gained compared to the best time of 2023.
Comparison of the best lap time achieved in Jeddah between 2024 and 2023
| Team | Comparaison 2024 vs 2023 | |
| 1 | McLaren | – 1,88 sec |
| 2 | Ferrari | – 1,15 sec |
| 3 | Williams | – 1,11 sec |
| 4 | Haas | – 0,93 sec |
| 5 | Sauber | – 0,64 sec |
| 6 | Mercedes | – 0,59 sec |
| 7 | Red Bull | – 0,52 sec |
| 8 | Racing Bulls | – 0,34 sec |
| 9 | Aston Martin | – 0,27 sec |
| 10 | Alpine | + 0,15 sec |
