How Alpine wants to make progress after sixth place in the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship and what specific weaknesses it wants to eliminate
Simply replicate the Red Bull RB19 and all problems are solved? Matt Harman does not believe in such a “panacea”. But Alpine’s Technical Director does believe that what others do well can serve as inspiration. And the RB19, as the dominant car of the 2023 Formula 1 season, really invites imitation.
“I think we understand pretty well what Red Bull is doing,” says Harman. “But of course we don’t talk to Red Bull about it. And you can’t snap your fingers and immediately understand exactly what’s going on.”
That is why it is essential in modern motorsport to be constantly on the watch of the competition. This has given Alpine a “pretty good picture of the other cars”, says Harman. In any case, he has identified “some great vehicles with really interesting developments”.
But there’s a catch: “It’s really important to be inspired. But if you only ever copy something, you’ll never get ahead. In other words, we can be inspired, but we have to go our own way. Because if you arrive with a car today, it will already be outdated by 2025. So you have to think two years into the future. “
Alpine has been overhauled
Or first look back at what hasn’t worked in the recent past. And Harman has to admit that Alpine is “not quite there yet” with its technical focus. Because: “Other teams have surpassed us [in 2023] aerodynamically by making greater progress than we have. But we have learned our lesson.”
“On the one hand, it’s about pure development work and, on the other, about the downforce of the car, what we can get out of the car and how we can use it. We have been experimenting throughout the year to get to the bottom of this. Some of it has been seen, some not. We hope this will help us to achieve more positive results in 2024. “
A523 only worked under ideal conditions in 2023
And one insight is that the new Alpine needs to be more flexible than its predecessor from the 2023 season, because the A523 practically only worked well under ideal conditions, says Harman.
He explains: “When our car is close to the road surface and has a very stiff set-up, we generate optimum performance. We find this operating window.”
“But when we get to a track that has a certain surface or where a higher chassis height is required, then we sometimes run into problems. Then the car no longer suits the drivers. That’s a weakness at the moment. “
Alpine had to make “compromises” in 2023
And Alpine is taking this weakness into the winter break ahead of the 2024 season, contrary to its own expectations: “We thought we had solved this for 2023, but that was clearly not the case,” says Harman. “But we didn’t really understand the car until the third or fourth Grand Prix, which is not typical for us. Because we have very capable people in the team. “
“But the operating window was simply so narrow that you had to make compromises, and that makes it complicated and leads to quite big fluctuations in performance, depending on the track and the competition. “
What needs to change at Alpine in 2024
The goal for the new Alpine car must therefore be a “wider operating window”, says Harman. “We need to understand how we need to develop the car so that we have a broader optimum. Because these cars are complex and some teams are good in some races but not so good in other races. So we have to try to make the car less pointy.”
Because 2023 showed very clearly what the current technical deficit can mean: “On a good day with a good set-up and a track that suits us, we can take on a Mercedes and even overtake. On other days, like in Baku or Monza, we are at the back of the field and wonder what exactly we did wrong.”
But Alpine is “not alone” in Formula 1, emphasizes Harman. “There are other very good teams that have had problems with this. It’s easy to back the wrong horse with these cars. That’s why we need a more gracious vehicle that is easier to use. This will also make better results possible. “
Car dimensions as a dead end for Alpine
As long as you give yourself the appropriate options, which was not the case in 2023: According to Harman, Alpine has “restricted itself somewhat” with the dimensions of its chassis and has therefore “run into a few problems” – with consequences for the further development of the A523.
One example: “We didn’t introduce an underbody update towards the end of the season after all, because we would have needed a bit more space for it, which we didn’t have. That’s why we incorporated this feature into next year’s car. “
