Oliver Oakes believes Alpine has more performance to show at the end of the current Formula 1 season having been “out of sync” with its rivals on development.
The French manufacturer has struggled for form in 2024, enduring a wretched opening to the campaign as several senior design staff departed.
Although fortunes have improved since then, with Oakes becoming team principal during the summer to replace Bruno Famin, reliability issues have limited Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon to only 13 points.
While a major step forward has yet to be achieved as Alpine continues languish ninth in the constructors’ standings, Oakes has suggested that previous delays in Alpine’s development cycle will mean late performance gains could be found this term.
Ocon will depart for Haas next season, with Pierre Gasly due to be joined by Jack Doohan in 2025.
Oakes stressed that “there’s never any concerns” over the motivation of his drivers and is confident that they will have “some [extra] performance coming” courtesy of upgrades.
“Obviously, they get frustrated, as I would,” remarked Oakes. “You don’t want to be cruising around on Sunday with nothing to fight for.
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal, Alpine F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“We know between now and the end of the year we have got some performance coming.
“After Spa and Zandvoort, you hope you can survive; this run of races was sort of what you had. But I think actually what you’re seeing we’re a little bit out of sync.
“We were late bringing what we brought from some of the beginning of the season and then you end up a bit out of sync when others have brought stuff.
“I hope between now and the end of the year we can at least show we’ve got some performance to come.”
Asked whether the potential can be unlocked from the updates, Oakes added: “Some people have brought big steps this year, some have brought some that haven’t worked.
“We’ve just got to actually see, when we bring it, how it performs.
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“I don’t think it’s as simple as a number from what you’re hoping to bring. At the end of the day, it’s also got to translate to the track.
“I do think it is quite tight in that battle in the middle there and you see it swing, so it’s quite interesting that one weekend to the next, even between drivers at the front actually in the same car and the same teams.
“It’s quite interesting as a…
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