Alpine seems to be set for a tough start to the season after analyzing its performance during testing in Bahrain, but the team aims to improve the car and the team’s dynamic as the year develops.
The French outfit didn’t show great runs last week during pre-season testing. If some teams struggled in single-lap simulations and others in race-pace simulations, Alpine appeared to be on the back foot in both circumstances.
However, team principal Bruno Famin said that it’s important to develop the car and achieve positive results throughout the season, and struggling in the first part won’t be too much of an issue for Alpine.
“Our objective this year will be to generate the dynamic in improving the car, and improving the team as well,” he said. “That is the team as a whole and not only trackside.
“It is much more than giving a target in terms of final result or position in the championship or podiums. What I really need to see is this dynamic.
“The car is what it is right now. The important thing is to be able to develop it together with the team, with the factories at Viry and Enstone, and trackside. Everybody is pushing for improvement.”
Alpine tried to change many things on the car compared to 2023 as it felt it needed to be bolder if it wanted to achieve better results. However, it seems that the plan hasn’t been working so far, with Pierre Gasly stating that the French outfit is “starting from quite far away” in 2024.
Famin concluded that there is still “a lot to learn” and only in Bahrain this week will the team truly understand where it stands in the pecking order.
“There is a lot to learn for sure,” he said. “The car is new from front to back: the chassis is different, the suspension is different, the aero is different.
“We wanted to try to improve the weak point of the previous car. Let’s wait for next week to see if we’re on target on it.”