Fernando Alonso’s departure from Alpine wasn’t pretty, and he left them for Aston Martin at the first possible chance. He wanted to get out of the midfield and join a team that could help him compete at the front, which is why he went to Aston Martin. Regardless, the Spaniard hopes that Alpine recovers from the slump they’ve been in.
Alonso was associated with the Enstone-based outfit for a long time. He won his two world championships with them, back when they were called Renault. Because of this, Alonso will always have a soft corner for Alpine.
Alonso said to MotorsportWeek, “Most of the team when I was in Alpine were the same people as we had in Renault. And [it] is the team that I will always love, and will have on my heart. So, it’s difficult to see when they are at the back. But hopefully, they can find more performance.”
Alpine’s fall from grace began towards the end of 2022 when they lost both Alonso and Oscar Piastri in the space of a few days. Since then, there have been several more key departures from the team, which have derailed their plans. Their performance took a slight dip in 2023, and 2024 so far, has been disastrous to say the least. Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer also left the team after this year’s season opener.
Additionally, Alpine’s drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have failed to score a single point so far. They sit rock bottom in the championship, and have shown no promising signs.
Alpine’s struggles in 2024
The Alpine A524 is arguably the slowest car on the grid and has a massive need for overall improvement. Weight issues, aerodynamic inferiority and straight-line speed – all major components – have plagued their season so far. Of course, they can make a comeback in theory, which looks unlikely because of the big changes in their team.
Ocon and Gasly won’t be happy with the car Alpine has fielded this season. With the field set to shake up ahead of the 2025 season, Alpine could end up losing one of their (if not two) stars to a potentially better team. The new consortium which invested a huge amount of money on the French team, too, won’t be happy with what they have seen so far. With 22 more races to go this season, they will be expecting better results.
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, is in a much better place driving for Aston Martin. In 2023, he stood on the podium eight times, and while things don’t look as good this season, the grass has certainly been greener for him on the other side.
