Tag: alpine

Gasly wants to clear the air before Alpine duo line up together

Pierre Gasly believes Alpine should hold talks with its two drivers ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix as he will start alongside teammate Esteban Ocon in Barcelona. Ocon was penalized for making contact with Gasly on the opening lap of the race in …

Pierre Gasly believes Alpine should hold talks with its two drivers ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix as he will start alongside teammate Esteban Ocon in Barcelona.

Ocon was penalized for making contact with Gasly on the opening lap of the race in Monaco two rounds ago, with Alpine and Gasly stating the attempted overtake went against team instructions. The pair will start from seventh and eighth in Spain as Ocon gains a spot due to Sergio Perez’s grid penalty, and Gasly wants talks to take place before the race.

“I think we should [discuss it], based on the recent events,” Gasly said. “As a team, it would be normal, but as a professional I know what I’ve got to do and always kept it very clean — and I always keep it very clean.”

However, Ocon believes talks are not needed and says it’s not unusual for the Alpine drivers to be close to each other on the grid.

“How many times have we started together?” Ocon said. “It has happened once every 30 times. I don’t expect anything tomorrow; it should be fine.”

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Away from the focus on the driver dynamic, the result marks a surprisingly competitive qualifying session for Alpine with both drivers in the top eight, and Gasly says the team needs to understand why it has been so strong in Spain.

“I think no one really saw that coming,” Gasly said. “I always told them it’s nicer when we have to explain why you overperform rather than underperform, but it’s as important for us to find these answers because coming here we definitely didn’t expect to have a Q3 car. Since yesterday, there was some performance and even today it was a very clean session.

“Looking at the gaps, we’re only a tenth and a half from Lewis [Hamilton], and even Carlos [Sainz] — Ferrari managed to win a race not a long time ago — so I must say it’s very strange, but we take it. It was a good quali and I think a very big, good boost of motivation for the team.”

Briatore’s past no concern if he can help Alpine in future – Famin

Flavio Briatore’s previous record of being banned from Formula 1 over the Crashgate scandal doesn’t matter as long as he can help Alpine improve in future, according to team principal Bruno Famin. Alpine announced on Friday morning that Briatore …

Flavio Briatore’s previous record of being banned from Formula 1 over the Crashgate scandal doesn’t matter as long as he can help Alpine improve in future, according to team principal Bruno Famin.

Alpine announced on Friday morning that Briatore would be returning to the team in the capacity of executive advisor to Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, despite having been found guilty of overseeing the order for Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash on purpose to help Renault win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

That incident led to Briatore being banned for life from motorsport activities, but he successfully overturned the punishment on appeal in 2010, allowing him to return to the sport from 2013. He never admitted personal guilt in the controversy.

Alpine’s decision to give a role to the 74-year-old has been met with widespread criticism given the Crashgate scandal — that at the time put Renault at risk of a permanent ban too — but when Famin was questioned on whether he was comfortable with Briatore’s past, he stated it was not something that concerns him as long as he improves the team.

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“Flavio is going to bring his experience, for sure,” Famin said. “He’s a 40-years experience guy in Formula 1, he knows how to operate a winning team. He has a very good record and quite a number of world titles, and he will bring this experience, this fighting spirit to the team. We will work together, of course — he’s the advisor to the group CEO — but he will advise the team.

“I already answered questions about the past. I don’t really mind about past. I am always looking at the future, and looking at what we can get and to get our team better. That’s really our goal. What I see with having Flavio as an advisor of the team is the opportunity to have his experience to help us. He has a very high level knowledge of Formula 1 and I’m sure he will support us in developing the team faster and better. That’s all.

“I’m looking ahead, not backwards.”

When it was put to him that his comments could paint a damaging picture regarding the company culture at Alpine, Famin doubled down on his stance.

“There is a very clear goal to improve the competitiveness of the team as soon as possible and as fast as possible,” he said. “We are looking for strong support; we are very happy to have received Davide Sanchez, technical director — very good opportunity and we have been able to seize it very quickly.

“And on Flavio, the target is to make the team better as soon as possible and with the knowledge, the influence, the network of Flavio, it’s an asset and we are using all available assets to make the team stronger.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff backed Famin’s comments, stating Briatore’s experience will make him an asset to Alpine and that the Italian deserves a second chance in the sport.

“I think we need to give a chance to recover from the situations,” Wolff said. “I have known Flavio as an extremely smart businessman. He has a lot of knowhow in Formula 1. Every input that I got over the last 10-plus years that I have been in much more contact, and I have a friendly relationship with him, was in a way helpful.

“There is a lot of experience and expertise that, like Bruno said, 40 years of Formula 1 do, and I think everybody deserves the opportunity to come back. And for me, for sure, having another clever mind in Alpine, someone that is able to simplify things and apply common sense is in any case, where Alpine today is, is a benefit.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur noted that Briatore has served his time given the overturning of his previous ban.

“First I don’t want to make any comment on what’s happened on the other team, I have enough to do with mine,” Vasseur said. “But overall, I think it’s probably as Bruno said, a step forward for Alpine, and it’s good for F1 at the end if Alpine is coming back into the fight. We know the [Crashgate] story, and I think he paid the price of this. If now he’s allowed to come back, he can come back.”

Briatore returns to Alpine in advisor role

Flavio Briatore – the former team principal who was previously banned from Formula 1 for his role in the “Crashgate” saga at Renault in 2008 – has been reappointed at Alpine in an executive advisor role. The 74-year-old Italian was banned for life …

Flavio Briatore — the former team principal who was previously banned from Formula 1 for his role in the “Crashgate” saga at Renault in 2008 — has been reappointed at Alpine in an executive advisor role.

The 74-year-old Italian was banned for life from F1 by the FIA after he and Pat Symonds were deemed to be central figures in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix controversy, when Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash in order to benefit Fernando Alonso’s strategy. Alonso — who was cleared of having any knowledge of the plan — went on to win the race from 15th on the grid, but Briatore successfully appealed against the severity of his punishment and was cleared to work again in the sport from 2013.

Now, Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo has appointed Briatore as his executive advisor for Alpine’s F1 division, and he’ll be present from this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix onwards.

Alpine says Briatore “will predominantly focus on top level areas of the team including scouting top talents and providing insights on the driver market, challenging the existing project by assessing the current structure and advising on some strategic matters within the sport.”

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The French constructor has had a tough start to the season, with just five points to its name so far and the opening rounds seeing the departures of technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer. Esteban Ocon will also leave Alpine at the end of the season, with no drivers yet confirmed for 2025.

RACER understands Alpine has also been tentatively exploring the possibility of stopping F1 power unit production in its Viry-Chatillon factory and instead becoming a customer team, sounding out rivals over potential supply deals. Those discussions may also have allowed Alpine to gain further details over the current competitive picture between different power unit suppliers ahead of the 2026 regulation change.

Doohan ‘more ready than ever’ for Alpine race seat

Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan says he feels “more ready than ever” if he gets the chance to step up into a race seat with the team in 2025. Doohan has been linked with the vacancy created by Esteban Ocon’s departure from Alpine at the end of …

Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan says he feels “more ready than ever” if he gets the chance to step up into a race seat with the team in 2025.

Doohan has been linked with the vacancy created by Esteban Ocon’s departure from Alpine at the end of this season, with Pierre Gasly’s future also unconfirmed. The Australian has been carrying out numerous private tests with previous Alpine cars but also made his first FP1 appearance of the season in a rain-hit practice session in Canada, and he believes he has been well prepared for a potential promotion if it is forthcoming.

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“It’s obviously a great opportunity, it’s my dream to be in Formula 1 and I want to be on the grid next year,” Doohan told SpeedCity Broadcasting. “If the opportunity presents itself here then that would be amazing. I’ve been building and growing with this team now for the last three years, so it would be a great transition.

“I went testing a lot in the 2021 machinery and also 2022, so I feel more ready than ever, I felt extremely comfortably coming into [the FP1 run] as well, so it’ll be a natural transition. But I’ll keep my head down, I’m here as reserve driver.

“I’m taking it day-by-day and if everything aligns then great, but I’ll just keep working and make sure that I maximize my job on track when I get the opportunity – hopefully more laps than [Canada]! – and off the track whether that’s in the sim or with the [race team].”

Doohan says he doesn’t know how the rest of his FP1 outings might look while there is uncertainty over the race seats moving forward.

“Really we’re not even looking too far into the future. There’s so much to be decided and so much happening as well know, so we’re really taking it, honestly, day-by-day, and session-by-session. I think with things happening sooner rather than later that will all fall into place in due course.”

Doohan also stated his FP1 outing in Canada was not a reaction to the controversy in Monaco, where Ocon was criticized for trying to overtake Gasly on the opening lap and causing a collision between the two Alpine cars.

Alpine and Ocon rift grows after Montreal team order

The relationship between Alpine and Esteban Ocon took another hit after both sides criticized each other over a team order late in the Canadian Grand Prix. Ocon was running in eighth place with four laps to go but was suffering what the team says …

The relationship between Alpine and Esteban Ocon took another hit after both sides criticized each other over a team order late in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Ocon was running in eighth place with four laps to go but was suffering what the team says was “an energy management problem”, costing him performance and seeing him lose a place to Daniel Ricciardo. Teammate Pierre Gasly was directly behind, and Alpine says it instructed Ocon to let Gasly through at the start of Lap 68 to try and challenge Ricciardo ahead.

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Ocon allowed Gasly through more than a lap later, a decision the team described as too late because by that time Ricciardo had been able to pull two seconds clear, and Gasly could only close that gap by 0.7s on the one full lap of racing left.

With Ocon crossing the line half a second ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine stated it was too risky to ask the drivers to swap positions back at the end of the race, but Ocon insisted he had played the team game and not been fairly treated in return.

“No, it is unexplainable,” Ocon said. “I’ve always respected the instructions that I’ve been given as a driver, and I’ve done that once more. I’m the nice guy!

“I’ve done my part of the job – the team hasn’t, honestly. It is not fair on that race. So I’m very frustrated with how things have been played out. I guess there are a lot of reasons, so we’ll let the benefit of the doubt go on.”

Ocon says he doesn’t understand the initial call from Alpine to let Gasly through, having initially replied “Forget it!” when instructed to do so over team radio.

“No, because we were two and a half seconds behind Daniel,” he said. “In one lap, not even a Red Bull can catch up the gap. So, no, it makes no sense. So either we don’t know what we are doing or we don’t realize how far it is, or it’s something else. It wasn’t the right decision.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, Ocon also stated he has always followed team orders, despite the fallout from Monaco when Alpine claimed Ocon ignored team instructions when trying to overtake Gasly and retiring after making contact with his teammate on the opening lap.

“I am happy for the team to be able to score with both cars, but the order should be reversed on that occasion,” he said. “I got the instructions to let Pierre past with two laps to go to catch Daniel who was two and a half seconds in front and too fast for us. So the call was nonsense.

“I’ve done my part of the job, which is being a team player. I’ve always respected the instructions I’ve been given. It’s always been the case and I’ve never done anything different in my career. I’ve done my part of the job and not the team, and it is very sad.”

Ocon says Alpine exit built over ‘several months’

Esteban Ocon says his target is to remain in Formula 1 but there are no certainties, as he explains how his departure from Alpine was discussed over a number of months. The Frenchman will leave Alpine at the end of this season after five years with …

Esteban Ocon says his target is to remain in Formula 1 but there are no certainties, as he explains how his departure from Alpine was discussed over a number of months.

The Frenchman will leave Alpine at the end of this season after five years with the team, with the announcement of the split coming following a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly in Monaco. Ocon says that incident was not the catalyst for his departure as discussions have gone on for a long time, but hinted there are no guarantees he has another seat confirmed already for 2025.

“We’ve been talking with the team for several months,” Ocon said. “Alpine is a big group, Renault is a big group, and it’s the kind of team that is not taking decisions on just a single race. We’ve been talking, we’ve agreed mutually to come to an end, basically, at the end of the contract.

“I’ve spent five years inside this team. We had some amazing moments, more tough ones, but five years in terms of Formula 1 world is a long time. I’m excited for the challenge ahead and excited to finish the collaboration on a high, that I’ve been part of for a long time.

“I have nothing to announce yet. I will announce my future in due course, when the right time comes. At the moment, I’m just focused on what’s going to be happening this weekend, and what’s going to be in the next coming races. I think it’s good to be doing some racing, which is the most important thing and what I’m excited about.

“I mean, you never know in Formula 1, what the future can [hold]. But as I said, I’m excited for future challenges. I’ve got 16 more races to do and it’s important to do a good job and coming to the races stay motivated as I’ve always been, and enjoy what I do. For sure my target is to be in Formula 1, that is very clear.”

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Ocon insists his impending departure and the fallout from the collision in Monaco will not have a negative impact on the rest of this season with Alpine.

“It doesn’t, because we’ve come to speak all together with the team. I talked with Bruno [Famin, team principal], I was at the factory for normal preparation before the weekend, but also had a chat with Bruno.

“We were just talking about a lot of things –there was no awkward moment, there is no damage between our relationships altogether. Everything has been discussed and we move on.

“What I want to do is try to do the best I can for the rest of the season, finish on a high with the team, with the story that we started. I think that’s very important for me. I’ve joined the team in 2020 and I’ve always [been] trying to do the best that I could and for the team, so that will remain.”

Alpine and Ocon agree to part ways at the end of season

Esteban Ocon will leave Alpine at the end of this season, with both sides saying they “have agreed together to part ways” at the conclusion of his current contract. Alpine has endured a tough start to 2024, scoring just two points in total and …

Esteban Ocon will leave Alpine at the end of this season, with both sides saying they “have agreed together to part ways” at the conclusion of his current contract.

Alpine has endured a tough start to 2024, scoring just two points in total and currently sitting ninth in the constructors’ championship. Ocon scored the first of those points in Miami, but came under fire from team principal Bruno Famin after causing a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly on the opening lap in Monaco.

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While Ocon is still set to race for the team for the remainder of the year, it has now been confirmed that he will leave at the end of the season, with Audi and Haas two potential destinations for the 27-year-old.

“It’s been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula 1,” Ocon said. “While I’ve been here for five years as a full-time racing driver, my professional career started at Enstone back when I was a teenager, so it will always be a special place for me.

“We have had some great moments together, some tough moments as well, and I am certainly grateful to everyone at the team for these memorable times. I will announce my plans very soon but, in the meantime, my full focus is on delivering on track for this team and having a successful remainder of the season.”

Ocon has finished on the podium twice for Alpine on top of a surprise victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, and Famin says the target will be to ensure more strong results over the remainder of the year.

“We would like to firstly thank Esteban for his commitment to the team for the past five years,” Famin said. “During his time, we have celebrated some fantastic moments together, the best of which coming at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with a memorable race win.

“We still have 16 races to complete in 2024 together with a clear objective: to continue to work tirelessly as a team to push for the best on-track results. We wish Esteban the very best for the next chapter of his driving career when that moment comes.”

With neither side confirming their 2025 plans, Alpine remains an outside option for Carlos Sainz once he leaves Ferrari, but could also look to promote reserve driver Jack Doohan who has impressed in private tests.

Gasly wants Alpine discussions after Ocon defies ‘clear instructions’

Pierre Gasly says he was shocked by Esteban Ocon’s attempted move on him at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix and suggests it went against pre-race instructions given to them by Alpine. Ocon attempted to pass Gasly down the inside of Portier on the …

Pierre Gasly says he was shocked by Esteban Ocon’s attempted move on him at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix and suggests it went against pre-race instructions given to them by Alpine.

Ocon attempted to pass Gasly down the inside of Portier on the opening lap but the angle into the corner meant he was unable to leave a car’s width on the exit and his left rear hit Gasly’s right front, launching Ocon into the air. While it was Ocon who retired, the stewards handed him what was converted into a five-place grid penalty at his next race for what they described as an “overly ambitious overtaking attempt”, and Gasly wants discussions with his teammate as a result.

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“I was quite shocked and it was very unnecessary. We should never have such a situation, especially between teammates,” Gasly said. “I’m just sad, disappointed with the situation, and especially as we had clear instructions before the race on what to do and whoever qualified ahead, the trailing car was supposed to help throughout the race with the strategy, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

“We definitely need to speak because we can’t afford [collisions], especially in a season like this, a point or two that might be crucial at the end of the year. We’ve just got to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

Elaborating on the pre-race discussions, Gasly claims Ocon was supposed to be helping ensure the lead Alpine could maximize its result, but says it’s not the first time the pair have been involved in incidents together.

“Honestly it was set in the strategy that whoever qualifies ahead will get the priority on the strategy and the guy behind will play a bit more of a support role. Obviously absolutely no risk on a track like that and really try to benefit from having the two cars in such a position.

“We know what’s happened and I think what’s most important for me is just to make sure that it doesn’t happen in the future. We came close already a couple of times, too many times, we discussed about it and we just need to be clear.”

Gasly went on to finish 10th after being able to take the restart following a red flag in his original position, but he says when the collision occurred Ocon risked both of them being able to score.

“At that time we were P9 and P10, so there’s absolutely no reason to try or risk to get both cars out,” Gasly said. “You can’t really rewrite the story, so you’ll never know if things could have been differently, but for sure we were in a strong position as a team, especially with the two cars ahead of us, and I feel genuinely that I had the pace to try something and we could be quite smart.

“We had a different scenario planned in terms of strategy. Unfortunately we couldn’t work it that way, but we’ll never know. At the end of the day I think we did the best we could because after the incident I got a puncture on my hard tire, restarted with the medium tires, and had to do 75 or 76 laps on medium, which wasn’t planned.

“It was just a very strange race with a very slow pace at the start, but to keep in mind the long game and making sure that the two Aston Martins behind me – with [Fernando] Alonso opening a free pit stop for [Lance] Stroll – so I had to keep some tires alive for the second part of the race in case Stroll would catch me back.

“There was quite a lot going on. I’m just happy for the team, we managed to get to the end and grab that point.”

Ocon hit with grid penalty for next race after Gasly clash

Esteban Ocon has been given a five-place grid penalty for his next race for causing a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix. Ocon attempted to overtake Gasly down the inside of Portier on the opening lap, but the …

Esteban Ocon has been given a five-place grid penalty for his next race for causing a collision with teammate Pierre Gasly at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix.

Ocon attempted to overtake Gasly down the inside of Portier on the opening lap, but the pair collided on the exit before entering the tunnel. With Gasly unable to go any wider due to the presence of the barrier, Ocon’s left rear wheel hit his team-mate’s front left, launching Ocon into the air and damaging his car to the extent that he had to retire despite a red flag period.

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The stewards deemed Ocon to be wholly at fault for the incident, and handed him a 10-second time penalty that is converted into a grid drop of five positions at his next race.

“It was clear to us that the collision was caused solely by the overly ambitious overtaking attempt, from too far back, by Car 31 and was therefore wholly to blame for the incident,” the stewards’ decision read.

Team principal Bruno Famin also squarely blamed Ocon for the move on French television, with his driver accepting it was his error on social media having reviewed the collision.

“Today’s incident was my fault,” Ocon said. “The gap was too small in the end and I apologize to the team on this one. Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today.”

Ocon had earlier suggested it was one of his only chances to make progress into the points given the difficulty overtaking in Monaco.

“You know, you have to take care, but in the same time, we are doing 120% to be trying to get inside the top 10, for me, for Pierre,” He said. “We saw it yesterday, we pushed to the limit a lot in qualifying. Mistakes happen. That’s it.

“As we usually do … We review everything for sure, we try and do better for the next one.”

The stewards opted against investigating a bigger first-lap crash between Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez that brought out the red flag, with Nico Hulkenberg also eliminated.

Gounon keeps Alpine seat for Spa as Habsburg remains sidelined

Alpine Hypercar reserve driver Jules Gounon is set to make his second FIA WEC start with the French brand at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The Frenchman will compete in the No. 35 A424 alongside Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin, as …

Alpine Hypercar reserve driver Jules Gounon is set to make his second FIA WEC start with the French brand at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The Frenchman will compete in the No. 35 A424 alongside Charles Milesi and Paul-Loup Chatin, as he did in Imola, standing in for the injured Ferdinand Habsburg.

Habsburg sustained two fractured lumbar vertebrae in a testing incident with the Alpine team at Aragon back in March. While there is still no timeline defined for his return to racing, encouraging news from the team today is that his recovery is “progressing well”.

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“Jules will join us again while Ferdinand continues his recovery, which should only be a few days more,” said Philippe Sinault, Alpine Endurance team principal.

This weekend’s six-hour encounter at Spa comes after a challenging race for the team at Imola last month. There its pair of A24s finished 13th and 16th in Hypercar.

“We knew that the previous race at Imola would be difficult because of the track characteristics. This week, we are back at a more familiar venue, more like the circuits we will encounter for the rest of the season. This week’s target is clear: we want to build upon what we’ve learned from the first two races to know more about where we stand technically and operationally after the race,” Sinault continued.

“It is an important moment in our project and a veritable run-through, as it’s one of the last opportunities for us to fine-tune the package and operating systems we will have at Le Mans. We’ve done a lot of work in the run-up to this race, which should also serve to rally the team and prepare it for the long home stretch before we head to the Sarthe.”

In addition to the racing at Spa Alpine has also revealed that it will unveil the first rolling version of the Alpenglow – its hydrogen-powered concept car – at the circuit. First revealed at the 2022 Paris Motor Show, the Alpenglow now features a new design and a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine.

The car will be presented statically on 10 May and “dynamically” on 11 May in Belgium.