F1 | Alpine renewal: Chief Operating Officer Rob White is missing

The Alpine renovation continues. After the many farewells in this first part of the World Cup, also linked to the difficult situation that the team is experiencing on a competitive level, another figure is added to the list.

Rob White, operations director of the transalpine team, has in fact been released from his role. White had moved to Enstone in 2016 to manage the operational part of the team, but in reality he already had an active role in the group, having previously worked as deputy general manager of the French brand’s Powertrain division in Viry-Chatillon. A logical choice at the time of Renault’s return to F1 in 2016 having purchased the then Lotus, given that White already had experience in the group. Previously, before joining Renault in 2004, he had worked on the Cosworth Formula 1 engine project as chief engineer of the British company, when it was under Ford ownership.

“As part of the wider operational restructuring of the team, we can confirm the departure of Rob White,” Alpine said in a statement.

“Rob most recently served as Operations Director at Enstone. The team is grateful for Rob’s commitment throughout his long career at both Enstone and Viry-Chatillon, where he led the championship-winning engine project world championships in 2005 and 2006. We wish him the best for his future.”

White’s departure follows a series of other changes in Alpine’s personnel in these first months of 2024, which among other things follow the farewells that began already last season, when Pat Fry decided to abandon the project to join Williams. In recent weeks, however, the French team has also made a great coup with the arrival of David Sanchez after his brief experience at McLaren: the French engineer, who worked at Ferrari until last year, has already given the first inputs to the Enstone team, suggesting what the short and medium term priorities are to try to revive the team.

In parallel with the arrival of Sanchez, born as an opportunity after the sudden separation from McLaren, team director Bruno Famin created a three-pronged technical leadership structure taking inspiration from the Woking team. Joe Burnell took on the role of technical director of engineering, David Wheater as technical director of aerodynamics and Ciaron Pilbeam as technical director of performance.

Rob White in his Renault days

Photo credit: Andre Vor / Sutton Images

In recent months Alpine has worked hard to try to close the disadvantage accumulated at the beginning of the year, given a change in philosophy on the design level which led to a big delay in terms of performance.

The first step was to reduce the weight of the A524, well above the minimum mass imposed by the FIA ​​at a regulatory level, but in the meantime aerodynamic updates have also arrived which have made it possible to find load especially on the rear, one of the deficient aspects of the car in this start of the championship. On a technical level, progress has been evident since that last row in Bahrain.

In Monaco, on a very particular track and the weight of the car matters less, the Enstone team achieved its second point of 2024 thanks to the efforts of Pierre Gasly, despite a contact with Esteban Ocon at the start of the race risking putting both of them out of play, infuriating Team Principal Bruno Famin. This does not mean, however, that the work behind the scenes is following the right direction, helping to bring the manufacturer back to positions more suited to his caliber.