The team is introducing an upgrade shortly after unveiling a new front wing at Silverstone. This is an effort to enhance their performance following the significant progress made by their close competitor, McLaren.
The team had a successful performance as Esteban Ocon secured the fourth position in qualifying and achieved third place at Monaco. Similarly, Pierre Gasly demonstrated great speed in Q3 in Spain, but unfortunately received a six-place grid penalty.
In recent weekends, the team has experienced frustration due to a lack of speed, resulting in back-to-back retirements in both Britain and Hungary.
Often when update packages come in stages the full picture isn’t seen immediately, although in this case the team stresses that the front wing wasn’t waiting for the new floor in order to fully optimised.
When questioned about the upgrades by Motorsport.com, Alpine’s sporting director Alan Permane stated that the front wing and the floor are not interdependent.
“It holds great significance as it enables us to maintain downforce on the vehicle, propel it forward, and achieve higher speeds. Therefore, it carries immense importance. Although it is not directly connected to the front wing, it represents a major advancement for our team.”
In reference to upcoming updates, he mentioned: “There is certainly a significant enhancement planned for Singapore, but I believe there will also be smaller improvements, such as in Monza.”
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523
Photo by: Erik Junius
In the recent races, Alpine has fallen behind McLaren in the competition for fifth place in the world championship. McLaren’s impressive performance during the British and Hungarian GP weekends has earned them 58 points, giving them a significant lead of 87 to 47 over Alpine.
Permane expressed admiration for McLaren’s remarkable achievement when questioned about whether their impressive progress served as motivation.
“Hats off to them, honestly. If you look from where they were in Bahrain, to where they’ve come to, it’s almost like that this is where they should have been, and they were suffering before.
Making such a massive leap is unconventional, but nonetheless, they have accomplished something remarkable. While we are observing others, our primary focus is on our own model within the tunnel, striving to implement upgrades swiftly.
When questioned about whether the team still intends to have the car with the fourth-highest speed, he responded by saying that it is indeed their goal and they are determined to continue putting in maximum effort to accomplish it through ongoing development.
During the Baku sprint weekend, Alpine faced difficulties after implementing updates during the FP1 session. As a result, they were unable to optimize their set-up before qualifying due to encountering problems and subsequently entering parc ferme.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer is hopeful that the new floor won’t compromise the Spa weekend.
“I don’t think so,” he responded when questioned about the potential stress of Friday at Spa. “We’ll be bringing the floor as it provides better performance, improving lap times by approximately two tenths of a second. It’s a new floor, so we’ll definitely install it.”
“But you’re correct, we have a limited timeframe to evaluate and analyze it, but fortunately, we possess effective tools for assessment. The floor will be equipped with sensors to determine if it is generating increased suction and the corresponding amount of downforce it provides.”
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