The crash suffered by the two Alpine drivers at the Australian Grand Prix could upset the roadmap for the French manufacturer’s team, which had planned to introduce a major update on the A523 in Baku as part of Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
In the final laps of the Australian Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly collided at the exit of the first corner of Albert Park and both had to retire due to excessive damage to the two cars.
This crash obviously cost the Alpine team a lot of money, which has to operate like all the other teams under a cost cap, but this accident could also have an impact on the development of the A523 since the team of Enstone has planned a major update at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but having to make so many parts in such a short period of time could put the team’s plans in jeopardy.
“It’s not a problem for the budget ceiling, even if this accident cost us dearly. Above all, it changed the priorities. » confides Otmar Szafnauer, the director of Alpine, to our colleagues from AMUS.
“Immediately, we need parts for Baku [la prochaine manche]. But you don’t rebuild things like a front wing in a fortnight. »
“So we have to see if it will have an impact and if we can carry out the development of our package that we want to introduce. »
To make matters worse, a Sprint race is on the program during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, which means that the teams must absolutely arrive in Baku with a significant number of spare parts for their single-seaters in case of several accidents. would take place between the different qualifying sessions, Sprint race and main race.
Another update at Imola
If all goes as planned for Alpine and the first update is introduced in Baku, a second major update should be introduced on the A523 in Imola at the end of May, while some small improvements are also planned in Miami. Alpine hopes to be able to keep pace with the development of its main competitors.
“We think we can at least keep pace with the development of Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin. » added Szafnauer.
Before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix scheduled for April 28-30, the Alpine team is in sixth place in the Constructors’ World Championship with a one-point lead over Haas.
