The Renault Formula 1 team’s relaunch as Alpine has attracted plenty of attention, but comes with a huge number of question marks.
Though the team was on increasingly good form in late-2020, it’s had an unexpected management reshuffle following Cyril Abiteboul’s surprise exit that’s taken the shine off the coup of signing Davide Brivio from MotoGP champion Suzuki.
It’s also got a new technical leadership team in place, one that arrived too late to have any influence on the 2020 design that largely carries over to this year.
Throwing returning double world champion Fernando Alonso into that mix is a recipe for fireworks. He’s as motivated as ever, and though he has no expectation of challenging for another championship in this comeback, he won’t want to be embarrassed.
Edd Straw assesses Alpine’s pre-season build-up in this video and takes a look at the A521’s design changes.
