Alpine ditches its ambitious five-year F1 plan following recent turmoil, admits ‘it’s no longer applicable’

Alpine has had a rollercoaster of a ride during the 2023 F1 season.

Alpine ditches its ambitious five-year F1 plan following recent turmoil, admits ‘it’s no longer applicable’

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon at Monza (Via IMAGO)

The Alpine F1 team has been a fascinating case during the 2023 F1 season for all the wrong reasons. The outfit had high hopes for the ongoing campaign, but things haven’t panned out as per plan, and amidst the turmoil with the team, its CEO, Luca De Meo, has confirmed that Alpine has ditched its 5-year F1 program.

The Enstone-based team surprised quite a few people up and down the paddock last year by finishing fourth in the Constructors Championship. The target for this year was to build on their 2022 result under the guidance of Otmar Szafnauer. However, things went from bad to worse during the ongoing season, and he was, eventually sidelined ahead of the summer break.

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The 2023 F1 season has recently returned for its second leg, and Luca De Meo, while talking about his team, told Formu1a.uno, “It seemed like a brutal action, and it was, but we are behind what we set ourselves as goals. Not that I forced them to set targets, but they set them themselves: they communicated them, and this didn’t work because we didn’t have the right trajectory.“

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“You have to work on it. You can’t close the box and then talk about it again after five years. We are aware of this – we theoretically have the resources to do well with a team that is quite well-financed. People who don’t work must leave the F1 system. This is high-level competition.” De Meo has grudgingly accepted that the five-year program was a farce.

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Alpine is going through a tough spell in F1

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly (Credits: F1)
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly (Credits: F1)

While Luca De Meo has accepted that Alpine did not have the right approach for the ongoing campaign, the outfit is currently in a tough spot with eight races remaining. The Italian Grand Prix was a shocker for the team, where they lacked raw pace and were nowhere near the top 10.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were extremely dejected at the end of the Monza weekend and urged the Alpine team to get back to the grind and try to produce better packages for the remaining races of the season. However, considering how up and down 2023 has been for Alpine, it seems like a very difficult task.

Next up on the calendar is the famous Singapore Grand Prix, and it comprises track characteristics that are unique compared to most of the other circuits on the 2023 calendar. The A523 has proved to be quite unpredictable this year, and several eyes will be on Gasly and Ocon’s exploits at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

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