These are dark times for Alpine.
The French manufacturer finds itself in last place in the constructors’ championship without a single point under its belt in 2024. It has failed to finish on the lead lap in any of the first four Grands Prix and has only managed to get out of Q1 twice. : His best position on the grid remains a modest 15th place.
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This is not the kind of form Alpine expects considering they are an official team with an official budget.
After finishing fourth in 2022, they set their sights on breaking into the top three: Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. Instead, they have plummeted and are struggling to avoid the wooden spoon.
Such a form could make the Group Renault board of directors question its participation in Formula 1, but that is not the case, according to team boss Bruno Famin.
‘We are not for sale’
“We have a real project with Alpine,” he told me when we spoke exclusively by video call. “We have the project to develop awareness of the Alpine brand worldwide through motorsport and Formula 1 in particular.
“We have all the support of senior management. The equipment is not for sale at all. “We will continue to push to achieve our goals.”
Famin took over management of the team last year, following a series of top management changes that involved the departures of CEO Laurent Rossi, team principal Otmar Szafnauer, technical director Pat Fry and sporting director Alan Permane.
Following the team’s dismal start to the season, technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics chief Dirk de Beer also left.
“It’s not a fun period,” Famin said. “We are not where we want to be in terms of performance, we are not doing the project to be P15 or P16. “We want to be ahead, we want to develop the performance of the car and we want to fight for podiums and victories as soon as possible.”
Alpine still hopes to recover this year
Famin remains determined that Alpine can recover from its woeful start to the year. He understands that this will not be the work of a moment, but he is convinced that the project will be given time to be successful.
“All [on the board] understands that it is not an easy challenge,” Famin said. “It is a very difficult challenge: we owe a lot of respect to our competitors. To fight ahead we have to raise the bar, raise our level, we have to improve.
“In the history of our team, formerly called Renault, at the beginning of the project in the 1970s, everyone laughed at us, and we were strong in those moments.
“We want to take advantage of those difficult moments now. We know that everyone has ups and downs. We are at a disadvantage, but we will take the opportunity to become stronger very soon and we will surely make the necessary changes within the team to achieve our goals.”
And he added: “The car we have now is the result of a previous management. But the important thing is what we are doing now. And I’m happy with what we’re doing. Of course the road is very long and we have a lot to improve.”
After such a poor start, it would normally be tempting to throw in the towel on this year’s car and focus on doing well next year, but we are in an unusual cycle.
Teams will carry this year’s machine into next, with very few adjustments, because most of their resources will be invested in the 2026 machine, which will be built to different aerodynamic rules along with new power unit regulations that include a higher focus on electrical energy. and the mandatory use of 100% sustainable fuels.
This means that, for now, Alpine will continue to bring improvements to this year’s car in a bid to rescue its campaign. A new package is expected for the sixth race in Miami. More updates are expected thereafter. Of course, there will come a point where they turn off the taps and move to the year 2026, but that point hasn’t arrived yet.
Complete shipment of Renault 2026 power unit
Speaking of 2026, this campaign offers Alpine the opportunity to finally close the gap with its competitors in terms of power.
Its Renault engine has been out of rhythm for years. The unit is believed to be 15 kW less than its rivals. That can cost them up to 0.5 seconds per lap on some tracks. But since the regulations are frozen, they won’t be able to do anything about it until the end of 2025.
“Viry [Alpine’s engine base] “We have been working on the new engine regulations for quite some time,” Famin said. “The good news is that we are on the right track. We are quite happy with what we are doing. The level is quite ambitious. At the moment we are on the right track, but you never know what the competitors are doing.”
The driver market
In such difficult times, it could be a challenge for Alpine to retain its drivers (Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly’s contracts expire at the end of this year) or prove attractive to outsiders, but Famin does not seem worried.
“We’re happy with our drivers and our drivers are happy with us,” he said. “We are talking to them regularly. Let’s see what we can do in the future. There are ups and downs, we are in a downturn but we have a strong project with a long-term vision.
“We have good strength for the 2026 project: we are manufacturers, we are developing PU, which is on the right track, we can optimize everything.
“We have a project that does not need to convince you [to stay]. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. We are in a difficult position. It is not the start to the season that we wanted and I appreciate how constructive they are with the team, not only in communication with journalists but also internally. When we try to find solutions with the car, they are both very helpful.”
He added: “We are also looking at the market and we also have our academy where we are developing talents for tomorrow or the future. We have Jack Doohan, who is our reserve, and Victor Martins in F2.
“We have a wide margin of possibilities. We are happy with Esteban, happy with Pierre, but we are prepared to react in case something happens. That’s all.”
However, don’t expect Alpine to announce anything anytime soon, around 2025. “We’re in no rush right now to be frank,” Famin added. “We have other problems to solve, other things to improve and we are in no hurry. “We are ready, we are prepared but we are in no hurry.”
The alpine eye will recover in 2026
In the short term, Alpine’s goal is to return to the points. They know that with the top five teams blocking points opportunities more often than not, sixth place in the constructors’ championship will be decided by much smaller sums. With 20 races left, Alpine believes it has time to recover.
But from 2026 onwards, they want to be much higher up the field.
“We definitely want to get back to the first part of the grid, to significantly improve our position,” said Famin. “We know that the major change in regulations is an opportunity to change the game. We want to take advantage of that opportunity. That’s the goal.
“We want to take an important step and find consistency, not be a fifth year, a seventh year, a sixth year. Let’s get much closer to the bigger teams.”