“The F1 paddock is the cruelest place in the world”
There Alpine it showed up at Suzuka with a new front wing and lighter components, not a substantial evolutionary package – according to team principal Bruno Famin – but a first step towards what should be the development of an A524 currently at the rear of the grid departure. The effectiveness of this innovation could not be verified in the race after Esteban Ocon's performance in Qualifying who at least avoided elimination in Q1 by managing to place an Alpine in Q2. In fact, on the occasion of the second start, the two Alpine cars touched, suffering damage equal to eight tenths per lap for Pierre Gasly and four tenths per lap for Esteban Ocon.
The CEO of the Renault group, Luca De Meo, last autumn on the occasion of the meeting of all the members of the team divided between the Viry-Chatillon and Enstone offices, he underlined that although the F1 team has a weight equal to 0.5% of the group's turnover, it is the which has the most visibility in light of the popularity of F1. Alpine was aiming for the new technical regulations in 2022 to return to the top, but the trend is more than downward. From fourth place in the Constructors' standings in 2022 we moved to sixth in 2023 and there is even the risk of finishing in tenth and last place in 2024 if there is no clear turnaround in the trend. The hope is to 'McLarenize' the A524 as the Woking team managed in 2023, but it is difficult to be optimistic also because we start from the assumption that the Alpine power unit is the worst of the lot with a power deficit between 20 and 30 horsepower (the request to the FIA to be able to intervene by interrupting the freezing was rejected).
Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are currently facing this technical crisis as 'model businessmen', but today's edition of The Team launches this provocation: “Imagine what Fernando Alonso would say if he were driving the Alpine A524“. The French sports newspaper also reports the fact that the most disparate speculations have already started in the face of this crisis that has hit an Alpine team that has lost Otmar Szafnauer, Laurent Rossi, Pat Fry, Alan Permane, Davide Brivio in less than 12 months , Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer: “The rumors of an extension for the two Frenchmen, which circulated this weekend in Japan, make little sense at the moment. Even the rumors about the arrival of Jean Todt at the helm of the team or the imminent sale of the blue house make no sense. There is no crueler place than an F1 paddock.”
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