The bosses of the Alpine F1 team, Bruno Famin(Team Principal) and Matt Harman(Technical Director) have admitted that the 2023 season was ‘worse than the last season.’ The French outfit finished sixth in the 2023 constructors’ championship, relative to a fourth-place finish in 2022.
Reflecting on their performance, the bosses have revealed the reasons behind the team’s inability to address the problems of the car. The A523 performed well when it had little ground clearance, but with more ride height, the car would become unbalanced. Therefore, they performed well on certain circuits and vice versa.
“We always experience conflict between engine power and aerodynamics. The more power we allowed to the engine, the worse it became for the aerodynamics,” explained Famin.
Furthermore, the technical director explained that at the start of the season, the Enstone outfit performed well, but as the season progressed, they lost to their rivals in terms of aerodynamics. The team also brought modifications to the aerodynamics, which showed good results in the wind tunnel but were not reflected on the track.
Alpine reveals problems with the power unit
The team also suffered a deficit in engine power of about twenty to thirty horsepower. Famin has explained that this deficit was mainly because of the electrical system. And with the engine regulations frozen until the end of 2025, not much improvement can be made in that aspect. However, Famin has revealed that they will make adjustments to the energy management software.
The team is aware that the energy management software would not bring more horsepower but it will improve the driving behavior. Moreover, following all the problems with the car, the team moved on to the development of the 2024 car only halfway into the season.
Harman revealed that the team shifted focus to 2024 in the 45th week of 2023. They already put Esteban Ocon in the simulator for the next year’s car. The team also used the last two races for the aerodynamic experiments for 2024.
“These cars are very complex. You think you’re making progress, and at the next race, you’re back down to earth,” Harman added. With a completely new outlook for 2024, Alpine hopes to climb up the ladder in the standings.
