Alpine started 2024 with arguably the slowest car on the grid. With a major personnel overhaul right from the top to an ongoing exodus of key figures, troubles seemed to have no end. However, the French team has made some crucial inroads in making the car quicker with some upgrades. That has seen them finish in points more often than not in the past few races.
The team has also managed to find pace in single-lap runs, which has rewarded them with some top-10 grid starts. This run continued during the Austrian GP sprint qualifying session as Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon made it into SQ3. What further pushed them a place ahead was Charles Leclerc’s misfortune that saw him set no time.
Reacting to the team’s performance post-session, Ocon said, “We probably got a little fortunate with Charles missing the flag at the end and gained a position as a result. Even so, the positive is we performed well and we are in a good position in the Sprint Race. We still have work to do and things to understand but it’s pleasing to be heading in a good direction.”
Ocon: We probably got a little fortunate with Charles [Leclerc] missing the flag at the end and gained a position as a result. Even so, the positive is we performed well and we are in a good position in the Sprint Race.
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Leclerc abruptly stopped on his way out of the pit lane for the out lap. The Monegasque’s engine appeared to have cut out right at the time when he was on the edge of the exit of the pit lane.
By the time he got to fire it up, it was too late. The Monaco GP winner crossed the start/finish line after the chequered flag was already waved, and therefore was able to set no time lap.
How Alpine turned their season on its head
Alpine managed to score just one point from the first seven races of the season. That included the Emilia Romagna GP where the team introduced a major upgrade package.
While the team failed to take advantage of those upgrades in Imola, fate took an upward trajectory from Monaco onward. While Gasly scored a point in the Principality, Ocon missed out, owing to his infamous collision with his teammate.
Since then, the duo have finished in the points both in Canada as well as Spain. With three points in each of those Grands Prix, Alpine has successfully left Haas and Williams behind in the constructors’ standings.
The credit for their recent points-scoring run goes to the new floor they introduced in Imola and the other tweaks they made in the races that followed. Now, Alpine’s engineers clearly seem to have developed a better understanding of the concept. Moreover, they now have an experienced campaigner in Flavio Briatore to guide them out of the ongoing slump.
