Five dropouts for Fernando Alonso and two for Esteban Ocon: this was the balance of ‘DNF’ of the Alpine in 2022, although the double world champion of Formula 1 it also suffered from reliability problems in the Austrian sprint or Australian qualifying.
Despite finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship, the Enstone team left many points along the way and surely some podium for risking too much.
Yes indeed, Pat Frytechnical director of Alpineassures that they do not regret it: “Absolutely. In that situation we should do exactly the same thing againyou take performance as much as you can, because they allow you to fix reliability, so it was definitely the right decision.”
Given the engine freeze, the French want to get the most out of their engine power rather than ensure reliability, which may lead to another case like car 14 in 2022.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t., that’s for sure. Most of the reliability issues are behind us”
“The main ones that we have had we have solved, and there are always little problems here and thereas well as the chassis, but we have managed to solve all the big hiccups,” added Fry.
Regarding the evolution of the rest, such as the outstanding Aston MartinAlpine is cautious: “We are making good steps, but We don’t know what the others are doing. That’s all part of the game, right? So, in the next races, we will surely get a good performance that will help us close the gap.”
“It’s a race, and it’s not just one in itself, It’s the development race in the seasonand you don’t know where the others are”, has settled the technical director of Alpine.
