Alpine reveals the real reason behind the team losing out to rivals in 2023

Alpine dropped down in the pecking order after Esteban Ocon's shock podium at the Monaco GP.

Alpine reveals the real reason behind the team losing out to rivals in 2023

Esteban Ocon driving ahead of Lando Norris at the Belgian GP (image via FormulaRapida.net)

The Alpine F1 team has had an underwhelming 2023 season so far, barring a couple of good results, including Esteban Ocon‘s Monaco GP podium. The French team has failed to improve on last season’s championship standings this season, with rivals such as Aston Martin and McLaren out-developing the Enstone-based team. Now Technical Director Matt Herman has highlighted the team’s fall in the pecking order this season.

Herman mentioned that during the F1 cost cap, teams could not bring upgrades at every race. Alpine got significant updates in the first few rounds of the season that prohibited the team to bring a new package later in the year. On the other hand, Matt Herman claimed that rivals such as McLaren gained an advantage as they got new parts in recent rounds.

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The Alpine Technical Director told auto-motor-und-sport, “We can’t bring major upgrades to every race. At the start of the season, we threw a lot of new parts into the fray. Our competitors were later. So we just took a little breather.” However, the Renault works team did have a new floor for the Belgian GP at the end if the summer break. This allowed Pierre Gasly to finish third in the F1 Sprint at Spa-Francorchamps.

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Alpine still targets 4th place in the championship

Esteban Ocon on the Monaco GP podium (image via MotorsportWeek)
Esteban Ocon on the Monaco GP podium (image via MotorsportWeek)

In 2022, the Enstone-based team finished fourth in the standings. The French team aimed to break away from the midfield this year and finish fourth with a closer gap to the top three teams. Unfortunately, things have not gone as per Alpine’s plans. Aston Martin and McLaren have out-performed the Renault works team by a huge margin this season.

Alpine currently sits sixth in the Constructors’ standings with a massive gap of 46 points to fifth-place McLaren. Yet, Matt Herman reaffirmed that the French team will continue to work towards achieving its goal of fourth place in the championship. He stated, “We haven’t changed our goals. We want to be the fourth-best team and I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do that by the end of the season.”

Thus, Alpine lost out to its rivals in the past few rounds due to a lack of upgrades. The Renault works team decided on bringing update packages earlier this year that left the team vulnerable to recent additions of McLaren and Aston Martin. Although, the French team is trying to get back on track with a new floor introduced at the Belgian GP. As such, the Enstone-based team could try to match its rivals in the coming rounds.

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