Revolving doors and an embarrassing meltdown
L'Alpine is going through a nightmare period in these first months of 2024. The French team, which aspired to finally move closer to the top positions in the ranking, has instead dropped to the bottom of the starting grid. Zero points in four GPs represent the embarrassing score collected by the A524, which many in the paddock indicate as the worst car on the track.
Since the end of 2019 the team has seen a myriad of managers change (the various Abiteboul, Szafnauer, Prost, Rossi, Brivio, Permane and Fry, just to name some of the most prominent names among team principals, managers and top engineers) but the results on the track gradually got worse. From mid-2023 the role of top manager of the team will be in the hands of Bruno Faminwho was originally supposed to be a sort of 'ferryman' and who instead is now in all respects the new team principal.
Famin seeks redemption
It is therefore up to him to try to start a turnaround for a team that still remains theexpression of a manufacturer of the caliber of Renault in the queen category of motorsport. The year, however, opened with further resignations by technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics manager Dirk de Beer. “It's not a fun time – Famin declared to the official F1 website – we are not where we want to be in terms of performance, our plan is not to be 15th or 16th. We want to be further ahead, we want to develop the performance of the car and we want to fight for podiums and victories as soon as possible“.
The road to those goals seems very long and tortuous, also keeping in mind that at the moment the Formula 1 points zone is monopolized by five battleships such as Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin, teams with economic and human resources that are anything but how scarce. “We have a concrete project with Alpinand – continued Famin, denying rumors that speak of a possible sale of the team by Renault following these poor performances – we have the full support of management. The team is absolutely not for sale. We will continue to push to reach our goals“.
Fingers pointed at the old management
However, one was not missing from the current team principal dig at the team leaders who preceded him: “The car we have now is the result of the previous management – Famin commented harshly – but what matters is what we are doing now. And I'm happy with what we're doing. Of course, the road is very long and we still have a lot to improve“. In Formula 1, however, time is always the tyrant and soon tangible results will also be asked of Famin.
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