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Technical director admits Alpine failings<\/p>\n
The future of the team has been called into doubt, given its five year plan to return to the front of the grid now lies in tatters and its proponents have all left the Renault organisation. Ex-Renault team boss, Flavio Briatore has been recruited to resolve the teams current deficiencies and reports suggest he is trying to engage the sacked Christian Horner to head up the team.<\/p>\n
In the run up to the Belgian Grand Prix, the team\u2019s executive technical director, David Sanchez, claims he is encouraged by the development of the 2026 car and understands why the A525 has underperformed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what we\u2019ve designed and developed \u2013 which we\u2019re happy with,\u201d he told assembled media. \u201cBut what we\u2019re seeing is there is so much convergence between all the cars this year compared to last year that some of our weaknesses are magnified by an order of magnitude. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to deal with at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each weekend the team are unsure as to how their car will fare at a variety of circuit layouts and weather conditions which is evidenced by Gasly\u2019s qualifying performances which range from P4 in Bahrain to P17 in Monaco. Sanchez reveals the A525 package has issues with downforce, something which becomes more apparent where the corners are on the slow side.<\/p>\n
Red Bull \u2018rebellious\u2019 culture to change<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Alpine quit developing 2025 car<\/p>\n \u201cI tell people \u2018downforce is like paracetamol \u2013 it fixes every problem.\u2019 I think the downforce that we have somehow, in high-speed corners, I think we\u2019re not too shy. We know we\u2019re on the back foot with energy recovery. Some races like Silverstone we are exposed and this is sometimes biasing our choices of downforce levels. In Austria we made some choices to try and be a bit racier, but this of course puts a bit more stress on our rear tyres and the consequences are quite heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n Alpine have now ceased the development of their 2025, something Sanchez claims the team are already benefitting from in their improving simulations for their 2026 challenger.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that for us there are big opportunities in 2026,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe may not have been pushing so deep in the season with developments like some others, but when we see how next year\u2019s car is evolving \u2013 and the rate is quite high \u2013 we are quite happy with our choice.\u201d<\/p>\n With half the season remaining, this will hardly be music in the ears of their drivers, particularly for Franco Colapinto who is now engaged on a race by race basis. The Argentinian has performed worse than his predecessor Jack Doohan who was benched after six race weekends this year, and the Australian recently expressed hopes he might regain his Alpine drive in the autumn.<\/p>\n Dutch GP \u2018fake news\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n No return for Doohan<\/p>\n With twelve race weekends complete, the team has plenty of data on how both drivers have performed, although their average starting positions are separated by just 0.25 of a place. In Austria, Toto Wolff confirmed he has had a number of conversations with Flavio Briatore over Mercedes releasing their reserve driver Valtteri Bottas to replace the struggling Argentinian driver.<\/p>\n Yet in an interview with F1.com, Pierre Gasly rubbished the idea that Alpine would be recruiting an experienced driver alongside him. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a lot of noise. I think the car, I\u2019m showing every weekend what we can do with it, doing a very good job on Saturdays and putting it in places that on paper we all agree we should not really be.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just tricky, it\u2019s a very tight midfield and we are at the back of it. There will always be noise, especially considering what happened earlier in the year [Doohan being replaced], but I think at the end of the day we should just focus on the work ahead,\u201d concluded the French F1 driver.<\/p>\n Brown breaks silence on Verstappen exit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Horner tipped for Alpine top job<\/p>\n Bottas is a favourite to join the Cadillac team next season, but would jump at the chance to get back behind the wheel of a Formula One car this year. There are reports that Briatore, who is firm friends with Christian Horner, is currently negotiating with the sacked Red Bull boss for him to join the Enstone based team. Although Horner is believed to want equity shares in his next F1 venture, something Red Bull never offered to him nor Adrian Newey.<\/p>\n With Horner currently on \u2018garden leave\u2019 it may be some time before his final payoff from the energy drinks company is finalised, and his \u00a320m remuneration is compensated for given his contract ran until 2030. A number in the region of \u00a3100m settlement would put Horner in a position to take an equity stake in the Alpine team.<\/p>\n Alpine have been linked with Kimi Antoneli for 2026, as Toto Wolff struggles to juggle his lineup to accommodate a potential move from Max Verstappen. Yet the world champion remains tight lipped about his future intentions and George Russell at times has sounded like a worried man.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Since the sacking of Christian Horner just days after the British Grand Prix, the great and the good from the paddock have been parsing the tea leaves in an attempt to understand how all this affects the future of world champion Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n One report from Germany suggested that Verstappen wold be holding a press conference this weekend in Spa, where he would reveal he was leaving his Red Bull family to join the Mercedes F1 team.<\/p>\n Were this to be the case, then the consensus view would shift towards the notion that Max leaving the team was representative of the view that the rats are leaving the sinking ship \u2013 following Horner\u2019s swift exit\u2026.. READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n