The start to the season for Alpine was far from what was hoped for, especially bearing in mind that the team had sacrificed part of the development of the A523 to focus on the new car. However, in Bahrain the French team proved to be the slowest on the grid, hitting the last row on the starting grid.
A very different situation from that of last year when, despite all its limitations, Alpine was able to gain some small satisfaction, at least before the chassis and aerodynamic constraints caused the team to slip in the standings. Precisely for this reason the engineers decided to revolutionize the 2024 car, trying to come up with new solutions to resolve those defects that last year did not allow it to progress like its rivals.
Unfortunately, the new car immediately showed all its limitations: at the moment it is not only overweight, an issue which also limits freedom in terms of ballast distribution, but it also has a balance that is far from ideal. Furthermore, the car has little traction and a rear that does not guarantee good stability, which was seen in Bahrain, a track that tends to put stress on the rear axle. To try to mitigate the situation, the engineers attempted to rebalance the car, but this resulted in major understeer which the drivers were limited to throughout the weekend.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Alpine rightly preaches calm, underlining that it is a completely new concept and that many elements have been revised, so much so that the team was able to overcome the obligatory crash late. The hope was to use a frame that was as light as possible, but it was then necessary to strengthen the body with other carbon layers, which increased the weight again.
Speaking about the problems encountered so far, Esteban Ocon explained that the difficulties observed in the first round of the season and in the tests had already emerged in the simulator last December. In reality, development work had started a few weeks early last year, so much so that towards the end of September the pilots were able to test a first prototype in virtual reality to give feedback to the engineers, but only towards the end of the year, after all the end-of-world commitments, Ocon and Gasly had the opportunity to try a model that was concretely close to what the A524 would have been.
“In the simulator in December. I think that's when we realized that… there were some problems to solve. And it was probably then that we realized it,” explained Ocon on the eve of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, explaining when they realized the limitations of this car.
The problems were not limited only to qualifying, but also to the race, where a marked degradation emerged compared to other rivals, who instead were able to make concrete steps forward compared to last year. Sauber and Haas in Bahrain showed positive signs in terms of fuel consumption management, even if historically the Sakhir track has always been favorable to these two teams.
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
The hope is that something can improve in Saudi Arabia, but with the little time available the team is aware that it is impossible to perform miracles, even if the Jeddah track is gentler on the tyres. In this case the rear will not be as fundamental as in Bahrain, but the qualities in terms of aerodynamic load will emerge, especially in fast corners.
“I think since Bahrain we've pretty much optimized what we had. Here we need to see exactly where we are. Last year the car was better here than in Bahrain, we had better performances. I feel like I qualified sixth last year. Of course, I'm not saying I'll qualify sixth this year. But we hope to be a little closer to the group than in Bahrain. Furthermore, it is a track that I do very well on,” added the French driver.
Alpine has already promised a substantial program of updates throughout the season to try to lift the A524 from the back row, but it's clear that such a process will take time and not just one package will be needed.
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