“We’ve seen that with Red Bull and Mercedes” – Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is confident they can compete at the very top within the next few seasons.
Renault last won the world championship in 2005 and 2006, Fernando Alonso breaking the dominance of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher.
Since then, it has been a struggle for the French team, mostly competing in the midfield. But things are set to change, confides Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, as he compliments F1 for graduating from physical to AI simulator testing.
“We want to win at the end of the next rule period in Formula 1. I believe we have all the tools needed to get there.
“Next year performance will be reset, everyone will start over and we will all work under the same constraints. Of course, the conditions will be more or less the same, although some have better resources.
“This will make the challenge a little bit easier for us because they don’t put 200 million, but they put 500 million.
“It’s also positive for us that Formula 1 is moving further away from physical testing and more focused on the simulator and data. At Renault, for example, we’re pretty advanced in AI and we use it to train people as well.
“This can help us in data analysis and also in strategic choices during the race. All these little things coming together can help us close the gap to the top teams and maybe even beat them.”
So… how many days until we’re racing again? pic.twitter.com/kNTRzwVYib
— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) January 7, 2022
When can Renault return to the top?
Renault is targeting a title win in 2024/2025, two decades after their last victory. With Alpine, they have a strong team in place, as they look to emulate Red Bull and Mercedes’ humongous success over the past decade.
“We want to win races and win a championship at the end of this rule period. That could be in 2024 or 2025 depending on when the rules change again.
“Four years also seems like a good preparation time to really build something. We’ve seen that with Red Bull and Mercedes for example.
“It takes four or five years to assemble the team you want, but we shouldn’t look any further because then there will be new regulations and everything will be reset.”
