Alpine F1 team boss Bruno Famin says nothing less than the “highest standards” and “operational excellence” will be required from the Enstone squad this season.
Alpine enters the 2024 season navigating the wake of a "turbulent" 2023, and Famin witnessed firsthand the turmoil that unfolded last July.
Former CEO Laurent Rossi's transition to a new role was followed by the forced departures of team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane, while chief technical officer Pat Fry opted to cut his time short at Enstone.
Famin then stepped in to take the reins of the beleaguered outfit and partly fill the leadership void.
The Frenchman, who has been confirmed as Alpine's permanent team principal, now aims to steer the outfit towards calmer waters, with a focus on maximizing the potential within the team’s existing resources.
“Clearly, the 2023 season was a turbulent one for the team,” Famin said, commenting at the launch on Wednesday of Alpine’s all-new A524 car.
“Crucially, though, it brought a degree of realisation in the respect that we needed to improve our overall team dynamic.
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“We made changes for the second half of the season, most notably to the way the trackside team operates, which brought some immediate and tangible success.
“The aim now is to extend this dynamic to the whole of Alpine Racing and we aim to begin 2024 very much on the front foot in terms of delivering high standards and maintaining operational excellence.
“We have the resources and we have embarked on a new phase in modernising certain areas of our facilities.
“Importantly, we also have wide-ranging and depth in talent across our sites, which we must exploit to the absolute maximum.”
While the long-term leadership situation at Alpine remains unclear, Famin's call for maximum exploitation hints at an urgent need to close the gap on midfield rivals like McLaren and Aston Martin.
By optimizing resources and fostering internal collaboration, under the guidance of Famin, technical director Matt Harman, Viry technical director Eric Meignan, and sporting director Julian Rouse, Alpine hopes to find the stability and performance boost it needs to reclaim its position in the midfield pack.
“We will continue from where we left off from the 2023 season in terms of organisation and general team structure,” he continued.
“We need to unleash the creativity of the many talents we have throughout our teams across both sites in Enstone and Viry.
“We must aim to gain speed and accuracy in our execution in order to improve our efficiency and overall performance.
“We have dedicated a lot of time in aligning the management of the team and improving all processes across the board.”
Regarding Alpine’s expectations for 2024, Famin is steering clear of declaring any bold targets, insisting the team needs to focus first and foremost on itself. But there’s clearly a determination to position Alpine among F1’s top midfield runners.
“We need to continue to improve the team to take it to the next level,” he said. “We all know that progress is never linear. That’s why we will not declare any numerical targets.
“We are focusing on ourselves and the improvement across the many different areas, to enable us to demonstrate greater competitiveness.
“It’s going to be a fierce battle on-track, and off it in the development race in the factories, and we intend to be part of that close competition.”
As for the French outfit’s unchanged driver line-up, Famin underscored the “key role” that Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will assume this season, both “on and off the track”.
“Our race drivers are amongst the best on the grid and we expect them to continue working collaboratively with the team in improving the overall dynamic,” he explained.
“Esteban and Pierre play a key role both on track and off it and we look forward to working hard together with them both.
“In 2023, both of them achieved a podium each, and those results are a great indicator for their talent, and also that of the team, to execute very strong races.
“It’s an important season and one where we count on both drivers to continue from where they left off by delivering on track and pushing the team off it with valuable contributions in the simulator to aid future car development.”
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