Alpine’s 2021 season has been full of ups and downs. The French team finished the Constructors in fifth position, with just 13 points clear of the AlphaTauri, but managed to obtain an unexpected victory in the chaotic GP of Hungary with Esteban Ocon.
Another prestigious result for a mid-table team was Fernando Alonso’s third place at the end of a Qatar GP where the two-time world champion shone in tire management.
Considering the values in the field that emerged at the end of the championship that has just ended, it seems clear that Alpine still has a long way to go to close the gap from the top teams, but team director Martin Budkowski said he was certain that the direction taken was the right one. 2022.
“Considering how our power unit has remained virtually unchanged over the past three years, and how the chassis and gearbox have been frozen for strategic reasons in order to invest our resources in other projects, I can say that we have done quite well with the platform. at our disposal “.
“Both for the results seen on the track and for those in terms of development, I can say that we have seen encouraging progress for next season. At the moment, however, we only know our numbers and not those of our opponents ”.
The Anglo-French team changed its name at the beginning of 2021 when for commercial reasons it was decided to abandon the Renault brand to switch to the Alpine one. Budkowski, however, wanted to underline that in addition to this small revolution, other changes behind the scenes are starting to bear fruit.
Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521
Photo by: Alpine
“I am proud of the way the team works. It has changed a lot over the past few years and these changes are starting to turn into concrete results. Of course, these were not perceived externally because all our attention, over the last two years, has been dedicated to the 2022 car, but we have seen them both on the track and in the factory ”.
“The sensations I perceive from the people who work in the company give me hope for the next championship”.
Budkowski then admitted that the team needs to improve to avoid the ups and downs that have characterized the 2021 season.
“In this championship we have shown that we know how to take every opportunity when it presents itself, but there have been races in which we have suffered and we did not know why we were not competitive. We have to fill this gap ”.
“We are working away from the spotlight to solve this problem and the same efforts are also being dedicated to the 2022 cars to make sure that the whole package is competitive. The promises seem encouraging ”.
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