Alpine lacks a modern simulator
Red Bull, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari. So says the 2023 Constructors standings after five races. Based on the 2022 finale, one could have expected a leap forward from the Alpine, fourth a year ago, and instead it was the Aston Martin who projected itself into the good living room of the starting grid, seventh a year ago after failing to overtake to the photo finish against Alfa Romeo, sixth.
Alpine is not sparing efforts and investments to fill the gap with the best of the class, but fundamental tools are still missing in that of Enstone. This is underlined by the team principal Otmar Szafnauer: “Our current simulator is 15-20 years old – the words of the former Aston Martin reported by the newspaper Auto Motor und Sport – It’s an older McLaren model. We ordered a new modern simulator a month ago, but we will only have it in a year and a half or two. These are the production times. The outdated simulator compared to the competition means that we need more time on the track to find the perfect set-up”.
100 races to reach the top
The top management of Alpine have quantified in 100 races the length of time needed to return to playing a leading role in F1. “There are still 75 left – added Szafnauer – or three and a half years. A time frame in which we should complete the upgrade of the infrastructure we have”.
Infrastructure and personnel are the key ingredients for creating winning single-seaters and it is no coincidence that Lawrence Stroll at Aston Martin has renovated the facilities available to the staff recently stuffed with high-profile figures from Red Bull and Aston Martin. “Who do you think chose Dan Fallows and Eric Blandin who are talked about so much? – concluded Szafnauer, referring in all probability to the fact that it was he who bet on them before the epilogue of his adventure in Aston Martin – in addition to them, many other technicians from Red Bull and Mercedes have arrived at Silverstone, but for these purchases to make a difference, time is needed because the gardening leave of high-profile figures is always very long”.
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