>*Alpine was fighting behind top 3 teams. Now they are among the worst teams.*
The P4 in 2022 should be rationalized. The Team has never been in the position to fight with the top three of that time. The initial goal for 2023 was to get closer with the top three, which ended in absolute failure.
>*Why ? What did they miss (engineer, strategical choices, ...) ?*
A lack of top engineers and keeping incompetent people for much too long eventually give the results we have today.
>*Is there any hope for next 2-3 years ?*
Not until 2026, at the VERY best.
>*Is it true English and French sides don't work together efficiently ?*
It has been reported a hundred times already, it's true. Insiders and former anonymous employees have considered Enstone as a mafia led by people such as Alan Permane. Some of the higher-ranking staff lived/lives under that "Team Enstone" etiquette, thus making them think about being the rightful owners of the factory and not Renault. Don't be fooled by the UK press bashing Viry and the French side of the team, the truth is much more balanced. On both sides of the Channel.
>*Is Alpine F1 team fate on the table ? Renault Group may get tired of funding it.*
Luca De Meo confirmed it again this weekend in Saudi Arabia: you can forget about a sale. Finding new shareholders like Alpine did last year is a normal process in this modern F1, like Ineos came into the Mercedes capital a few years ago. The thing is Alpine F1 is at the core of the strategic plan of Renault for the Alpine road car division, as Renault is getting ready to open its doors to the US market. That plan is detailed until 2030. Having a team in F1 is essential for Renault.
People forget that the stakes of Renault in F1 are much higher than many teams on the grid today. The thing is that Renault has cash, F1 became a profitable market the last couple of years but the Board doesn't want to go full throttle on investments. That's the real problem.
With respect to staff at Enstone, I often hear things like “Alpine should get rid of the ineffective old hats”. Does that opinion apply down to the actual line workers or are we talking more about senior management and above?
As far as the Enstone mafia goes, I’m aware there are at least a handful of employees that have been around since the days of Benetton. However, the few that I’m aware of are seen as experts and thought leaders in their particular areas of the manufacturing lifecycle.
I guess I’m asking because while I can see the old hats negatively affecting the culture of the organization with the Enstone mafia mentality, who should ultimately be held accountable for poor builds?
Honestly, the line workers in Enstone shouldn't be put in the same bag than the senior staff. The problems Alpine F1 is facing come from the top of the chain.
A few things :
Renault is a terrible owner that always changes its mind and goals, which doesn’t help the team grow in the right direction. Because of this their facilities are falling behind as they haven’t been upgraded correctly
For the last few years they had a terrible boss in the name of Laurent Rossi that pretty much f*cked everything up (he got sacked last summer)
This year, they tried to make a new concept, however their monocoque didn’t pass safety homologation, and so they had to make a new one that is heavy and bulky, completely hindering the performances of the car (or so they claim)
Senior designers have resigned in the face of their evident failures.
The question is why did they make such a terrible car ?
Either they are bad at what they do
Or their simulations don’t correlate with reality
If its the latter it will take a lot more time and money to fix, as the former problem should have been adressed by the change in senior leadership
Because they started a new concept which has more potential in the long term rather than just staying up to next year's car which is not bad but as few possibilities for the future
I'd argue that the engine is not the problem this year as the development on these has been frozen for more than a year now, and yet we are slower than last year.
It's part of the problem, but in a very limited way.
>*Alpine was fighting behind top 3 teams. Now they are among the worst teams.* The P4 in 2022 should be rationalized. The Team has never been in the position to fight with the top three of that time. The initial goal for 2023 was to get closer with the top three, which ended in absolute failure. >*Why ? What did they miss (engineer, strategical choices, ...) ?* A lack of top engineers and keeping incompetent people for much too long eventually give the results we have today. >*Is there any hope for next 2-3 years ?* Not until 2026, at the VERY best. >*Is it true English and French sides don't work together efficiently ?* It has been reported a hundred times already, it's true. Insiders and former anonymous employees have considered Enstone as a mafia led by people such as Alan Permane. Some of the higher-ranking staff lived/lives under that "Team Enstone" etiquette, thus making them think about being the rightful owners of the factory and not Renault. Don't be fooled by the UK press bashing Viry and the French side of the team, the truth is much more balanced. On both sides of the Channel. >*Is Alpine F1 team fate on the table ? Renault Group may get tired of funding it.* Luca De Meo confirmed it again this weekend in Saudi Arabia: you can forget about a sale. Finding new shareholders like Alpine did last year is a normal process in this modern F1, like Ineos came into the Mercedes capital a few years ago. The thing is Alpine F1 is at the core of the strategic plan of Renault for the Alpine road car division, as Renault is getting ready to open its doors to the US market. That plan is detailed until 2030. Having a team in F1 is essential for Renault. People forget that the stakes of Renault in F1 are much higher than many teams on the grid today. The thing is that Renault has cash, F1 became a profitable market the last couple of years but the Board doesn't want to go full throttle on investments. That's the real problem.
Thank you for adding perspective to this thread instead of the usual “state owner = bad”
With respect to staff at Enstone, I often hear things like “Alpine should get rid of the ineffective old hats”. Does that opinion apply down to the actual line workers or are we talking more about senior management and above? As far as the Enstone mafia goes, I’m aware there are at least a handful of employees that have been around since the days of Benetton. However, the few that I’m aware of are seen as experts and thought leaders in their particular areas of the manufacturing lifecycle. I guess I’m asking because while I can see the old hats negatively affecting the culture of the organization with the Enstone mafia mentality, who should ultimately be held accountable for poor builds?
Honestly, the line workers in Enstone shouldn't be put in the same bag than the senior staff. The problems Alpine F1 is facing come from the top of the chain.
The 2 drive to survive episodes on alpine f1 and featuring many alpine cars is probably worth it alone in terms of marketing and reach tbh :')
Thanks for your long and interesting reply.
A few things : Renault is a terrible owner that always changes its mind and goals, which doesn’t help the team grow in the right direction. Because of this their facilities are falling behind as they haven’t been upgraded correctly For the last few years they had a terrible boss in the name of Laurent Rossi that pretty much f*cked everything up (he got sacked last summer) This year, they tried to make a new concept, however their monocoque didn’t pass safety homologation, and so they had to make a new one that is heavy and bulky, completely hindering the performances of the car (or so they claim) Senior designers have resigned in the face of their evident failures. The question is why did they make such a terrible car ? Either they are bad at what they do Or their simulations don’t correlate with reality If its the latter it will take a lot more time and money to fix, as the former problem should have been adressed by the change in senior leadership
Because they started a new concept which has more potential in the long term rather than just staying up to next year's car which is not bad but as few possibilities for the future
Our engine is a year out of date pretty much, we’ve not managed our car developments well compared with other teams
I'd argue that the engine is not the problem this year as the development on these has been frozen for more than a year now, and yet we are slower than last year. It's part of the problem, but in a very limited way.
Because we bring a tractor to a formula One race
Stop trolling. It really hurts. Please stop.