Despite finishing 6th in the standings last year, there was hardly a dull moment for Alpine last season. Between teammate controversies, Jack Doohan replacing Esteban Ocon in Abu Dhabi and Flavio Briatore’s return, 2024 was a volatile year at Alpine.
The spotlight remains firmly on the team, largely because of the speculation surrounding Doohan and Franco Colapinto.
However, not for the first time, Alpine’s off-track activities have distracted from their performance.
With this in mind, the Enstone-based operation have uncovered a problem that could impact their development.
Alpine find problem with wind tunnel
Since rebranding from Renault to Alpine, the French squad have made no secret of their ambitions.
Their aspirations of climbing the field and disrupting the front-runners are well-established.
A series of team principals, from Marcin Budkowski to Otmar Szfnauer, have lost their positions in the face of a senior management that demands results.
In the eyes of many, constantly changing team principals has done nothing but destabilise Alpine.
Considering their last three finishing positions in the constructors standings (4th, 6th and 6th), it cannot be said these changes are having the desired impact.
Insufficient investment and poor organisation are likely bigger contributors to Alpine’s stagnation.
As revealed by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, a fundamental issue with the team’s infrastructure has been identified.
De Meo told the Starting Grid Podcast that “an error in the correlation in the wind tunnel” was recently found.
It is plausible that this problem has persisted for some time – undermining the Enstone factory’s development in previous seasons.
With new Technical Director David Sanchez integrating himself into the team, this development is crucial.
Aside from this year’s campaign, this is also very relevant for the upcoming 2026 regulations.
A new chapter at Alpine
Since the return of Flavio Briatore, numerous changes have been implemented at the Enstone squad.
From Colapinto’s multi-year contract (creating uncertainty for Doohan’s future) to committing to Mercedes power from 2026, Alpine are making big alterations.
This is not the first time Alpine have undergone a transitional period. However, the nature of the changes underway create immense pressure heading into 2026.
Should they fail to establish themselves as front-runners, it would be another setback for a team whose aspirations rarely match their results.
Focusing on the short-term, however, Alpine are still optimistic about their chances in 2025:
“It has been a good and productive three days for the team here in Bahrain,” explained team principal Oliver Oakes.
“A lot of hard work has gone into this test both behind the scenes at the factories in preparation.
“As well as in the execution trackside by our dayshift and nightshift crews. Testing is never easy to fully understand where you stand in the pecking order.”
Alpine enjoyed a relatively solid three days of testing, avoiding any reliability issues and showing reasonable performance.
Still, as is often the case, there will be plenty of talking points at the Enstone team.
Unless the A525 surprises everyone at Albert Park, Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan should have a car capable of fighting in the midfield this weekend.
The question is whether Colapinto’s presence at the team will put Doohan’s seat under instant jeopardy.
