Matt Harman’s technical team is understood to have some work to do in the next few days, with Alpine failing the FIA crash tests. With the 2024 season only weeks away, this development is worth following.
The Enstone-based team is working to prepare the A524 for their upcoming car launch on February 7th. Reports indicate that Bruno Famin’s squad wants to showcase their 2024 challenger (or at least its earliest iteration) rather than a 2023 model with an updated livery.
Assuming this to be accurate, Alpine cannot afford any delays in its development. For most teams, the next few weeks are about finalising preparations and – ideally – readying the first set of upgrades to be introduced after Bahrain.
Long-term planning requires teams to be relentless in their progression. Red Bull and Ferrari, for example, already have a vision for what their 2025 packages will look like.
At Formula 1’s sole French team, however, the situation appears slightly more hectic. According to it.motorsport.com, Alpine recently failed its latest FIA crash tests.
Genuine issue or minor inconvenience?
To be clear, this does not constitute anything alarming in itself. It is very normal for teams to fail their first safety tests, making adjustments thereafter to extract the most performance possible.
Red Bull has been candid about this process over the winter break. For some, the bigger concern would be to pass the crash immediately.
However, at this stage, there is slightly less time for adjustments to be made. The severity of the situation for Alpine is unclear, and it seems feasible that everything will go ahead on schedule.
Still, for a team in desperate need of a step forward, this news is not necessarily encouraging. The latest merry-go-round of senior personnel can’t have been helpful for 2024 development either.
In any case, this is an evolving situation. The next few weeks will determine if this is a small speed bump or a more meaningful issue at Enstone.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
