After a disastrous start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, heads rolled at Alpine. After the season opener in Bahrain, chief engineer Matt Harman and aerodynamics chief Dirk de Beer resigned. Alpine then installed a new personnel structure based on the McLaren model with three technical departments with their respective heads. At the beginning of May, the Renault factory team finally appointed David Sanchez as the senior technical director, who had previously left McLaren after just three months.
Sanchez has big tasks ahead of him. Recently, Alpine has been able to record a clear upward trend, although the team failed to score any points at the British GP for the first time since the race weekend in Imola in mid-May. But the team from Enstone, England, is still a long way from its own high expectations. In addition, the team is still faced with uncertainty about the continuation of the Renault engine program.
Sanchez swears by Enstone location: Everything necessary is there
According to Sanchez, Alpine at least has the facilities for a successful future. “They are very good. Everything is there to build a competitive car,” said the Frenchman, who spent more than ten years at Ferrari had spent.
The direction of development is also very clear at the moment, Sanchez continued. “At the moment we are developing around the weaknesses. This year, a lot of the focus during the season is on aerodynamics.” But fundamental changes are to follow for next year’s Alpine. “Then we will review the hardware and try to focus on fundamentally changing some aspects of the car,” announced Sanchez.
The concept of the successor to the A524 will also change again compared to its predecessor. “We’re talking mainly about the suspension,” reveals Sanchez. “I wouldn’t say there will be major changes in concept. Because if you look at the car, it will look similar. But if you look at the aerodynamic characteristics, some will tend to be different and just a bit stronger for performance.”
Alpine technical director asserts: We have learned from our mistakes
In the context of the 2025 car, Sanchez also asserts that Alpine has learned from the mistakes of this year’s car. The weight of the car in particular was considered a major problem at the start of the season. However, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon’s work vehicle is now said to be at the minimum weight.
“We were a bit too ambitious. Now that has been corrected and it should be fine for the future,” says Sanchez, looking back on the Alpine misery. “The thing with these cars is that they are quite heavy. And the more performance content we try to add to the car, the more difficult it becomes to deal with the weight.”
Sanchez: Alpine chassis 2024 a bit too aggressive
“So this year’s chassis was a bit too aggressive,” Sanchez continued. “That was a lesson and the challenge for the future will remain similar: how we manage to get more out of the car and still stay under the weight limit.” Work on the Alpine for 2025 is in full swing. But the team, currently in eighth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, has not yet written off the current season. Numerous new parts are to be brought in after the summer break.
Sanchez believes that a mid-season move like McLaren’s last year is replicable, but difficult given Alpine’s development plan. “The only difference compared to McLaren is that they changed their direction dramatically early in the season, while we seem to change our direction mid-season,” explains Sanchez. “So if you put that development cycle into perspective, they made their developments well before the summer break. We’re trying to make our developments a little after the summer break.”
While Alpine’s Formula 1 team appears to be solid in terms of its technical structure, at least for the moment, there was renewed personnel movement at Ferrari at the beginning of the week. Chassis boss Enrico Cardile left the Italian factory team, and team boss Frederic Vasseur is taking over on an interim basis. You can read all the details in this article:
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