F1, after flop in Bahrain Alpine runs for cover
Revolution at Alpine after flop in Bahrain
The 17° place of Esteban Ocon and the 18° of Pierre Gasly in the Bahrain Grand Prix, which inaugurated the 2024 season of Formula 1, have left heavy aftermath in Alpine’s house: in fact, the Anglo-French stable decided on Monday to revolutionize the team to support the team, with two departures and three new entries.
Alpine: out go Harman and De Beer, in go Burnell, Wheater and Pilbeam
Leaving the team are the now former technical director Matt Harman and former chief aerodynamic engineer Dirk de Beer. The team has thus created three specialized technical roles: Technical Performance Director, Technical Aerodynamics Director, and Technical Engineering Director, replacing the previous structure of a single Technical Director.
Joe Burnell will be in charge, in this sense, of the Engineering area, David Wheater of the Aerodynamics area and Ciaron Pilbeam of the Performance area. "The decision,” Enstone explain, “comes after a period of disappointing results in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, in which the team è dropped from fourth place in the 2022 Championship to sixth in 2023, missing several important goals to reach the head of the grid".
Bruno Famin: "We are neither where we want to be nor where we need to be"
"We have decided to make these organizational changes because, and we can see it clearly, we are neither where we want to be nor where we need to be in terms of performance,” explained Bruno Famin, team principal of Alpine, to the team’s official channels. “It is time to take another step in terms of staff organization".
"The new three-pillar structure with three technical directors, each specializing in different areas, will bring better work and collaboration between our technical areas,” Famin added, “and will help strengthen the link between the factory and the track. I fully trust in the abilities of Joe, David and Ciaron to work closely together to bring the team the performance and improvements it needs".
"Finally, I would like to thank Matt and Dirk for their commitment over the past two years to the team and wish them the best for the next chapter of their careers" concluded the Alpine reference, who assumed the role of team principal in 2023 taking over in July 2023 from Otmar Szafnauer.
