The Alpine Formula 1 team is looking to bounce back in Singapore with a new underbody after going home without points at the Italian Grand Prix
The Alpine Formula One team admits they did not expect to go home without points at the Italian Grand Prix, having been very competitive at a similar high-speed circuit at Spa two weeks earlier.
Although McLaren, rivals for fourth place in the constructors’ championship, made up six points at Monza to leave them just 18 points behind the French team, Alpine is not too worried as they will bring a new underbody for the upcoming race in Singapore.
“I’m 100 per cent sure that Monza was an outlier,” said Alpine sporting director Alan Permane. “We have a new underbody for Singapore which will bring a massive step up in downforce. We’ll be back where we should be and we’re really looking forward to Singapore and especially Suzuka with this car. It’s going to be a lot of fun. “
How Alpine explain their lack of pace at Monza
The lack of pace in qualifying and the race in Italy, Alpine still can’t quite explain, especially as Fernando Alonso’s race simulation on Friday was still very competitive and almost on a par with Mercedes.
“We didn’t expect it to be so difficult,” says Permane. “I thought it would go quite well and we drove absolutely well on Friday. That’s the tricky thing we don’t understand: The long run without DRS, so with full drag, looked good and we were faster than McLaren and faster than everyone else we’re racing with. “
“For sure we weren’t as quick as the first three cars, but it didn’t look like there were any major dramas. [The car] was definitely a bit high so there was more drag, but we thought that was the fastest way. So that’s the way we drove. “
Alpine: “Car was definitely difficult to drive “
“I think we just lacked the pace a bit,” added Alpine’s sports director. “We struggled in qualifying. Both drivers said they made mistakes, which is uncharacteristic, so the car was clearly difficult to drive.”
“We didn’t have the pace in the race either, especially compared to Friday afternoon. There Fernando was driving on the medium tyre and he found it fantastic. He was quick and did lap times in the mid 1:26s on full tanks. [On Sunday] he didn’t even come close to that. So we have some work to do to understand what was going on. “
When asked what exactly the drivers were struggling with, Permane says: “Fernando said he had a bit of understeer on some laps, then a bit of oversteer on some laps, so nothing unusual and no major dramas. “
No warning of Alonso failure
“He couldn’t stay on Lando Norris when they were both in clean air. There was a bit of a duel between the two. If Fernando hadn’t retired, we would have expected him to finish right behind him. So in a race that didn’t go so well for us, we would have finished eighth.”
However, although Alonso complained during the race about the energy use of his Renault power unit, there were no forewarnings for technical failure, as Permane confirms: “No, nothing. He couldn’t have felt anything from the water leak. “
