Formula 1
Alpine: F1 2022 engine performance gain worth reliability risks
Alpine Formula 1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer is confident that Renault made the right choice in pushing for power unit performance in 2022, even if reliability was compromised.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 7, 2022, 7:06 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The team has suffered more reliability problems than most rivals, costing valuable ground in the battle with McLaren for fourth in the world championship. Alpine is currently in front by just seven points.
In Mexico, Fernando Alonso lost seventh place in the closing laps after suffering a cylinder issue that obliged him to stop.
Szafnauer insists that problems have largely resulted from a general push for performance with the power unit, and that they can be resolved over the winter.
"We mustn't forget that at the beginning of the year we set out - and this was before I was here, but I think it was the right decision on the powertrain side - to err on the side of performance," he said said.
"Because the powertrain was going to be frozen. So we made a conscious decision to push the performance envelope and fix reliability issues as we got to them because the FIA allows that. So that was a conscious and strategic decision.
"And now when we face them, we can fix them. We didn't do it on purpose to not be reliable. But if you have to err on that side, you push the performance boundary, because you can't add performance now until 2026, you can fix reliability issues.
"And we can do it over the winter. So strategically, I think it was the right thing to do. And we still have two races left to finish in fourth. I think we can do that."
Asked by Motorsport.com if it was frustrating to lose valuable points in Mexico, he said: "I'll tell you my frustration after Abu Dhabi! For sure you want to score more points."
Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, climbs out of his car after retiring from the race
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Szafnauer acknowledged that it doesn't matter what margin Alpine beats McLaren by, as long as the team can stay in front.
"No, not at this point. And then over the winter, we'll make even more reliability improvements. You can't improve the performance, it is what it is. And we'll be better off.
"But we've got to remember this powertrain has to last until 2026. So for sure, it was the right strategy.
Read Also:
- Red Bull finalises Mateschitz succession plan
- Why Hamilton changed his mind about racing in F1 after 40
"I think we're on a good trajectory. And let's see what next year brings. But the short term is reliability in the next few races, finish strong, and I think our performance will be there."
Szafnauer says that the Renault engine division in Viry-Chatillon knows what it has to do, having fixed other issues earlier in the season.
"Yeah, more than I do, for example," he said. "So I was asking them about the [Mexico] cylinder failure. And then although I spent seven and a half years at Honda powertrains, they've got a much deeper understanding and they'll figure it out.
"But like I said, strategically that's what we set out to do. Every time we have an issue, we fix it. It doesn't come back. So this was a little bit different than what we had in Singapore."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Red Bull finalises Mateschitz succession plan
Next article F1 reports increase in quarterly revenue as COVID recovery complete
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
11 min
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 42 min
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
54 min
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe