Despite recent reports suggesting that Alpine failed its 2024 crash tests, the French outfit confirms it has passed the latest tests. This puts the Enstone-based team on schedule ahead of their launch on February 7th.
As we enter into a crucial month in the F1 winter cycle, news outlets will be working in overdrive. New information surrounding teams and their development becomes gold dust as work begins to try and measure how the field is progressing.
Inevitably, this is a very difficult process. Even the teams themselves are somewhat unaware of where they stand in the pecking order. Only the pre-season Bahrain tests and the season opener in Bahrain will reveal the first concrete indications.
Generally speaking, the fastest teams disguise their pace. This means that predicting the top of the running order is extremely difficult.
However, it is usually easier to detect which teams have struggled over winter. Missed development targets, poor reliability and delays in upgrades are all easier to observe.
Because of this, some of the reports surrounding Alpine were beginning to create concerns. According to other outlets, Bruno Famin’s team failed the most recent 2024 crash tests just over a week before their A524 car launch.
Whilst far from catastrophic, such a delay would understandably generate some uncertainties.
According to the latest information obtained by formu1a.uno, however, Alpine has passed the FIA crash tests. After making adjustments from their first attempts in December, Alpine has now ticked this area off for 2024.
This dispels any of the worst-case scenario conclusions that might have emerged from an unpassed crash test. As mentioned in previous articles, it is normal for teams to push the limits and fail their initial attempts.
Red Bull has discussed this topic over winter, insisting that such failures are calculated as they push to the limit.
Looking ahead to the imminent car launch and pre-season tests, Alpine have an opportunity to showcase its progress over the last few months.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang