After the first two races of the season, Alpine look like one of the worst teams on the grid. Having finished P6 in the championship last year, the French outfit has been off to a dismal start this season. Both their drivers qualified in the last row in Bahrain and could not score a points finish. Points once again eluded them in Jeddah as Pierre Gasly suffered a 1st lap DNF while Esteban Ocon finished P13. Taking note of the downfall, former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan believes they might not feature on the grid in 2025, as reported by Motorsport-Total.
: Bruno Famin recently faced surprise and speculation surrounding the departure of Bob Bell, the Executive Director – Technical, who joined Aston Martin. This move came as part of a series of departures from Alpine, including Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer, raising questions… pic.twitter.com/zMRHJmCDGJ
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) March 11, 2024
Ever since Renault (Alpine) re-joined the F1 grid, they have been plagued with setbacks. The Enstone-based outfit came to the sport with a five-year plan, but key departures continued to act as setbacks. Last year, ex-Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer had to make way for Bruno Famin. Per Jordan, the team let go of Szafnauer a bit too early.
“It’s absolutely embarrassing. At the moment, they are the team that is in the biggest crisis.”
Under Famin, problems continue to plague Alpine as their performances seem to dip with each passing race. Key personnel are taking note of the same and are walking away from the team. Recently, Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer have handed in their resignation, with there being rumors of more resignations to follow soon.
Hence, Jordan worries Alpine’s time in F1 might well be over. Despite investments from Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, and co., RacingNews 365 reported that the team’s value was around $900 million in December 2023. The value was $500 million less than Forbes‘ estimated value of $1.4 billion in July of the same year.
Poor performances compelled Alpine to make structural changes
Following the poor outings in the opening two races of the season, Bruno Famin confessed to Racer.com about the need to make changes. A new structure came into being at Alpine, with three Technical Directors taking charge of three separate divisions. Famin believes the improvements they made in 2023 give him the confidence to be able to continue striving for success in 2024. With a fresh management structure, the belief of the team is that they will be able to make the organization “much more horizontal, much less vertical.”
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin says the shock of being on the last row of the Formula 1 grid at the season-opening race cemented a decision to make changes within the team. https://t.co/aLKb55uEy6
— RACER (@RACERmag) March 15, 2024
Through the new structure, Famin believes there will be short-term gains for his team. Hence, they can focus on short-term, as well as, long-term gains, instead of only focusing on the now. By the time the 2026 regulations kick in, Famin hopes to learn from the A524. These learnings will be critical for Alpine to ready themselves for 2026. Additionally, the A524 shall act as the base for Alpine to develop their 2026 car (A526). Hence, Famin is optimistic that his team will be able to survive the current dip.
