Bruno Famin has one merit: he tells things as they are, without sugarcoating the truth. At the presentation of the A524, the Alpine team principal admitted that the car had to repeat some crash tests to obtain chassis approval from the International Federation, thus confirming the preview we had given in January.
Bruno Famin, Alpine F1 Team team principal
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The French manager, after the launch of the 2024 single-seater which took place in the Enstone factory, admitted that he was not surprised at having had to repeat crash tests, because the car is entirely new and on certain technical choices the team sought the limits , to increase the team's ambitions.
Matt Harman, the technical director of the chassis area, explained with a touch of pride that the only component remaining from last season is the steering wheel. The desire is to push development on a single-seater that was completed only a few hours before launch, in the belief that Alpine can move up the grid after finishing sixth in the Constructors' World Championship.
“We have pushed some elements to the limit and, in some cases, beyond” said Harman, confirming the doubts that were later admitted by Bruno Famin. The Frenchman admitted to Motorsport.com that the team had to repeat some tests before obtaining FIA homologation…
“We had to redo some homologation tests – said Bruno -. But I think it's simply a normal process. If you pass everything on the first attempt it's a sign that you haven't been ambitious enough in your design choices. We'll see on the track what the outcome will be. final result, but I didn't see the fact that I had to repeat the crashes as something negative.”
Alpine decided to bet on a completely new car, while world champion Red Bull would have limited itself to evolving the car that dominated the 2023 season. The reason is quite simple: the A524 introduces new concepts that will have to be developed to last two championships.
Alpine A524: the strange inverted L-shaped radiator air intake and the flow deflectors on the mirrors
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
In 2025, in fact, the available budget will be dedicated essentially to the study and design of the 2026 F1 which will introduce the new regulations, so it will be necessary to evolve the 2024 car, in the hope that no concepts have been wrong, because it would not be easy to correct them .
“We didn't make any bets. We worked hard to develop a totally new single-seater. We changed everything that the regulations allowed us. There were two reasons that led us to this choice: first, we learned from the past. On aerodynamics and tires we have understood a lot to limit tire degradation and improve performance; secondly, and we will certainly not be the only ones on this, in the middle of the season we will have the definition of the 2026 rules, for which the resources will mostly be dedicated to that car, so the 2025 single-seater could just be an evolution of the A524”.
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