It seems that things have been all but calm for Formula One team BWT Alpine, as they face a number of issues both with their car and their team. The French racing team have come across more problems than they both could have expected and wished for, and have set themselves up for a bad start to the 2024 season. With that being said, why exactly may Alpine be struggling for success at this point in the year?
1)Alpine staff say Au Revoir to the team
It was recently announced that Alpine would be losing two of their senior members of staff, with Technical Director Matt Harman and Head of Aerodynamics Dirk de Beer both leaving after the dismal start to the season at Bahrain. This added to the further sense of loss that Alpine were feeling, and has resulted in a team reshuffle in order to try and get them back on track. It has since been announced that Alpine will adopt a trio of technical directors: Joe Burnell as Engineering Director, David Wheater as Aerodynamics Director, and Ciaron Pilbeam as Performance Director. It is hoped that this change in Alpine’s management will help guide the team towards better results, but we will only be able to see this as the season progresses and we will be able to see whether this change will in fact make a positive difference.
The Alpines are struggling so far in the 2024 season (Photo: https://www.planetf1.com/news/alpine-start-f1-2024-season)
2)A not-so-strong start to the season
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have both proved challenging to the French duo, with results being nothing short of disappointing. In the first qualifying session of the series, with both Ocon and Gasly finishing 19th and 20th to knock them out of Q1 and forcing them to start at the back of the starting grid. The two Frenchmen struggled to make any sort of an impact over the course of the weekend, with the Alpine drivers only gaining two places each to finish 17th and 18th at the end of a catastrophic weekend.
Similarly to this, during the Saudi Arabian qualifying session yesterday, Alpine suffered similar results, and yet again were knocked out in Q1 with Ocon and Gasly finishing 17th and 18th. The team failed to make any sort of an impact in the Jeddah session, which once again sees the two French drivers starting in a position which I am sure they were not hoping for. Clearly, the team are struggling when it comes to pace and performance, so will be hoping to improve when it comes to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Whilst I am not so sure that this will be the case this weekend, we will not know for definite until after the race has finished to see whether Alpine has in fact been able to improve on their recent results and finish in a stronger position than that of Bahrain.
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