“This A524 is completely new, from the front wing to the rear wing. It’s a bold approach, a new concept. We decided to change a lot of things on the car for several reasons,” said Bruno Famin, the boss of Alpine Motorsports and the Formula 1 team, in front of journalists and partners this Wednesday.
“The first is that we think we have understood a certain number of things about the cars of previous years. The aero (dynamics) has been revised, the suspensions have been revised, we have also worked on the centering of the masses, it is on the overall functioning of the car that we have improved our understanding,” he said. explain.
After a very convincing 2022 season finished in fourth place in the constructors’ standings, Alpine approached the year 2023 with confidence, with the ambition of getting closer to the three behemoths of the discipline (Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull).
But the season had been very complicated due to reliability problems and a lack of engine power. Despite the two podiums won by the French Esteban Ocon in Monaco and Pierre Gasly in the Netherlands, the French team had fallen to sixth place, overtaken by McLaren and Aston Martin.
Alpine, which has the particularity of having a factory in France in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne), where the engine is developed, and one in England in Enstone, near Oxford, in charge of aerodynamics, design chassis and assembly, almost started from scratch to design its new single-seater.
A “more aggressive” car
The new car has therefore changed significantly and now displays a “more aggressive” line, in the words of the team’s managers and drivers. So the nose and front wing are wider, the rear suspension and braking system have been redesigned and the chassis is completely new too.
“We noticed that the A523 (last year’s car, editor’s note) was operating within a very narrow operating window. There were very specific features that worked, and others that didn’t. “That’s why we sought to expand this window as much as possible with the A524, to give us a better chance of maximizing its potential,” detailed Matt Harman, Alpine Technical Director.
The other reason for such a technical revolution is more pragmatic: with the change in regulations planned for 2026, Alpine has chosen to significantly change its single-seater this year in order to be able to devote more resources to the development of the car in 2025. which will be 100% new in 2026” according to Bruno Famin.
Pierre Gasly discovered his new car. Andrew Boyers/Reuters
This profound transformation of the single-seater is a risky bet for the brand belonging to the Renault group, which should be determined fairly quickly on the consequences of this choice.
“It’s possible that we suffer at the start of the season, of course. There is a risk because we don’t know if we will be comfortable, if we will be fourth or tenth. After the Bahrain tests (February 21-23), we will be able to have a first idea, even if it is not completely correct,” said Famin.
“The most important thing is not what we are going to have at the start of the year, it is how we are going to progress with this car,” added Ocon, while the season will include a record total of 24 Grands Prix, the first being scheduled for March 2 in Bahrain and the last in Abu Dhabi on December 8.
“It’s taking risks and the start of the season could be difficult because we have a lot to learn about this new car,” Gasly underlined. But in F1 you have to take risks. »
