Alpine F1 team principal Bruno Famin is unsure about when his team’s F1 results will improve.
Less than a year ago, Bruno Famin was called upon at the last minute to replace Otmar Szafnauer as team principal. Fast-forward to today, and Famin represents one of the only continuities at Enstone to start 2024.
The exits of Technical Director Matt Harman and Head of Aerodynamics Erik de Beer were announced just last week.
After a very disappointing start to the year, these resignations are certainly not encouraging. It was only in February that Harman was seemingly confident in the team’s development capacity.
In any case, the A524 represents a huge challenge for Alpine F1 to overcome. Mid-season development is restricted in modern Formula 1, which punishes teams that make mistakes or fail to innovate.
Perhaps of greater concern is the uncertainty about Team Enstone’s concept’s meaningful potential. If it does, there is a very limited time frame to optimise it.
With a record-breaking 23 races left in 2024, the narrative surrounding Alpine is generally quite negative.
Alpine enter a critical period
Bruno Famin is optimistic that improvements will arrive, though he cannot be certain of when:
“How long it will take, I don’t know, to be honest,” he told motorsport.com.
“Like all the teams, we have upgrades coming, of course.
“We have theoretical figures about what the upgrades will bring, we’re pushing for having those upgrades as soon as possible…
“We really need to understand and to find solutions. And we’re on it.”
Ultimately, only results on track can remedy the current situation at Alpine.
As McLaren demonstrated last year, it is possible to make a fast recovery after blundering winder development.
However, it would be unwise for a team to pin their hopes on what – over the past three seasons – has been a statistical outlier.
The next few months will be crucial for Alpine F1.
Not only can the next few Grand Prix determine their competitiveness in 2024, but also for 2025.
Constant regulations mean that any mistakes committed this year – as Aston Martin has learned – must be confronted.
On a more macro level, Bruno Famin’s team must decide how many resources they will dedicate to the major regulation changes to be applied in 2026.
