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The Alpine Formula 1 team has an aerodynamic package to try at Imola this weekend as it bids to find the “few tenths of a second” it is missing against its midfield rivals.
Renault’s rebranded works team endured a point-less start to the season in Bahrain, where returning two-time world champion Fernando Alonso retired because a sandwich bag caused his brakes to overheat and Esteban Ocon finished a lapped 13th after being rear-ended by Sebastian Vettel.
Alonso had qualified in the top 10 and fought inside the points early on but it was clear at Sakhir that Alpine is not among the fastest midfield teams.
Having finished fifth in the championship last year as Renault, the team appears to have slipped back from its main 2020 rival McLaren and been overtaken by Ferrari and AlphaTauri – putting Alpine around the struggling Aston Martin team that beat it last year as well.
Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski said Bahrain “confirmed some of the weaknesses of our package” that the team is trying to address before switching its development focus fully to the new 2022 car built to vastly different technical regulations.
Budkowski admitted that Alpine is currently missing a “few tenths” to fight at the front of the midfield.
“We have an aerodynamic upgrade package coming to the car for this grand prix,” he said ahead of Imola.
“In addition, we have some test items to assess during Friday practice, which will help define further upgrades planned over the next few races.”
As Renault, the team finished on the podium at Imola last year with Alonso’s predecessor Daniel Ricciardo.
This weekend will mark the first opportunity for the 10 teams to try their 2021 cars in anger away from Sakhir.
“It will be interesting to see how our car performs on a different circuit, having only been to Bahrain for testing and the first race so far this season,” said Budkowski.
“It will also generate new data to help our development effort.”
Alonso joked that he hoped “all our bad luck for the season” had been used up in Bahrain.
He said Alpine was “still learning lots about the car” and expects a different situation to evolve at Imola.
“It should be pretty close and a few tenths of a second could make up a number of positions,” he said.
Ocon reiterated the team’s need to find performance even though his Q1 elimination in Bahrain was down to misfortune in qualifying.
“It wasn’t the start to the season we hoped for, but there’s positives to take, areas we know we can do better, and we go to Imola targeting an improved result,” he said.
“We know it was a bit of bad luck there but qualifying higher up on the grid will enable us to be in a better position to fight for points.
“I have a bit of unfinished business in Imola too after last year’s retirement. I want to go there and score points and I’m feeling very determined to do that.”
