Alpine Technical Director Matt Harman is not just looking at the long-term effects of investing in new infrastructure: “We are accelerating the process “
Matt Harman, Alpine’s Technical Director, believes the improved factory resources will boost the Formula 1 team ahead of the regulations change in 2026. Alpine is currently investing heavily in new infrastructure, including a new simulator building
Thanks to the additional spending, other factory facilities are also being upgraded, and Harman is convinced that the changes will pay off in the short term.
“Our focus is on the future and the regulations for 2026 and the cars we need to develop between now and then,” says the engineer, adding: “We also have a big program at both sites to improve our capabilities and functions.”
“We are fully funded to achieve these goals. We will build all the equipment and bring it to life so that it can be incorporated into the regulations for 2026. It will also be incorporated into the cars long before then,” said Harman.
The main investment has been in simulation tools. “We need to be sharper and find good answers to difficult questions more quickly. I’ve experienced this with teams I’ve worked for in the past. That’s one of the improvements in our capabilities.”
“So we are dedicated to all these things. And the plan that we’ve had for the last three years, from my point of view, is unchanged. We’re just accelerating it. We are well funded. We have enough people. It’s just a matter of continuing our work and focusing all our energies on it. “
New simulator as an important step
Alpine finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship after a rather mixed 2023 Formula 1 season. The team only achieved two podium finishes.
Harman emphasizes that the new simulator will be an important step for the team. “It will be in operation by 2026,” he reveals. “That opens up great potential for us. It will be housed in an absolutely huge building that will also support some other interesting developments.”
“I’m really looking forward to it. What we have at the moment is a very, very good tool. But the resolution and the bandwidth are not quite there yet. I think this will give drivers a further level of confidence in the correlation of the simulator, which will be very important for the 2026 season. “
Harman admits that the team has not always been as successful as it could have been when it comes to identifying and fixing fundamental issues. But the technical director believes it has made progress recently.
“It’s a process where we’re getting a lot better,” he says. “One of the things I’m very keen on is that we can address the root causes of our problems more precisely.”
“Under the cost cap is very, very tricky if you don’t fully address the root causes. We simply can’t afford to try things out. We have to use simulations to gain this understanding. We have to try to get it right first time,” he emphasizes.
Alpine tools too imprecise so far
In this context, Harman admits that the team sometimes took a wrong turn when reacting to data that was not accurate enough. “That was a small weakness,” analyzes the Alpine head of technology.
“Even if the tools are not sharp enough, you get to a point where you start to believe some of the things you see in them. And then if you’re not very good at checking everything and questioning yourself, you can easily come to the wrong conclusion.”
“And then you go in a direction where you can get stuck for six months,” Harman knows. “But I think we’re getting better and better at this. And as I said, our capabilities are getting better too. The tools in the background themselves are getting better and better. “
