Matt Harman reveals blueprint for F1 2024 Alpine turnaround

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F1 chief reveals blueprint for 2024 turnaround

The team are looking to make gains in 2024

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 25 January 2024 16:57

Alpine technical director Matt Harman has revealed how some teams managed to get the jump on the Enstone-based outfit in 2023, and how that has fuelled the design of their new-look 2024 car.

The team finished sixth in the constructors' championship, but were a long way behind fifth-placed Aston Martin, who claimed eight podiums throughout the year while Alpine managed just the two between drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

They were also a long way off their 2022 points total which enabled them to finish fourth that season, representing a notable regression.

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Alpine have already teased both their 2024 power unit, and a change of direction in terms of their colour scheme, taking to X to show off a potential new pink livery.

The upcoming 2024 season marks a chance for the team - who have recently received an injection of cash from a number of sporting superstars - to close the gap to the top five in the constructors' championship.

A number of key staff members left the Alpine team in 2023, including team principal Otmar Szafnauer

Alpine recently received an injection of cash from some sporting superstars, including Travis Kelce

Alpine's 2024 ambition

French driver Ocon recently revealed some rather negative thoughts on how the new Alpine car is shaping up ahead of 2024, but Harman believes that the team know the direction that they need to take in order to improve performance.

“I think we got a little bit outgunned aerodynamically by some other cars,” he told F1.com.

“We did make some ground at the start of the season on the people we were targeting.

“But there were some notable teams that had made a bigger step than we did. Some of that is to do with pure load on the car, pure development and the amount of load we’re able to put on the car. Some of it was the understanding we needed to extract from the car in the way in which we operate it.

“There have been experiments going on throughout the year to try and get to the bottom of that. Some of it has been visible, some of it hasn’t been so visible. We hope to use that learning to try and get a more positive result this year.”

FIA Aston Martin Alpine Pierre Gasly Esteban Ocon 2023