Formula 1
Alpine plans "quite big" upgrade forming basis of 2025 car
Alpine is working on a further step for its A524 Formula 1 car to help lift it further up the grid
Jonathan Noble
Published: Aug 14, 2024, 12:34 PM
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Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Alpine is planning a “quite big” upgrade, which will form the basis of its 2025 car, for the final stages of the Formula 1 season.
The French manufacturer has had a challenging 2024 campaign, with its A524 challenger starting the year in Bahrain as the slowest on the grid.
Since then the team has undergone major infrastructure changes, which has included the departure of technical director Matt Harman to Williams and the imminent exit of team principal Bruno Famin.
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However, there have been recruitments too – including Flavio Briatore as F1 team advisor and David Sanchez as executive technical director, while Oliver Oakes will become team boss after the summer break.
Those changes come in parallel to the team making some solid progress on track. And, from those early days struggling at the back, it has become a more regular points scorer. The Enstone-based squad is currently eighth in the constructors’ championship.
Now, following a hefty upgrade that arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix, the team has revealed plans for a big change coming for the end-of-season flyaways.
Reflecting on the latest upgrades, Sanchez said: “This is a first step in the pipeline. We have another one, which should be quite big, and that should be the basis for next year. We will do more on this year's car, definitely.”
David Sanchez, Alpine Executive Technical Director
Photo by: Alpine
Sanchez said that after he had joined, the team had deliberately worked on a parallel programme to introduce two stages of upgrades.
“We've been working on this one since day one,” he said. “The other one is an extension, using a bit more time to go further.”
Asked when the upgrade was coming, Sanchez said: “A few races after the break.”
While the early stage of the season saw Alpine struggling with an overweight car and big traction issues, Sanchez said now the team was mostly out of a problem-solving phase and was instead chasing pure performance gains.
“The number one problem is for everyone finding more downforce and trying to design out some anomalies which we may see with the current car,” he said. “This [latest update] package is intended primarily for more downforce, but also a little bit more top speed.”
Having only arrived at Alpine in May, Sanchez has not had much time to make sweeping changes to the organisation. However, he thinks that the ball is now rolling on developments that should leave it in good stead for the looming rule change from 2026.
“From an infrastructure point of view, the team was already well advanced with its plans,” he said. “But we looked together about whether we needed to prioritize a few items more than others.
“I think where we are now, the plan we have, if I look at '26 and beyond, we should be in a good position. Now it's more to get everything in the right direction with this car, the next one, and build more confidence in the team.”
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