Heading into the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, the BWT Alpine F1 Team were worried they were going to start the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on the back foot, and their concerns were soon proven to be correct.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly qualified nineteenth and twentieth at the Bahrain International Circuit and finished seventeenth and eighteenth, ahead only of the heavily delayed Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant, both of whom had technical issues.
The car is supposedly overweight and unstable, and with the power unit already underpowered compared to their rivals, and the pain was evident across the board in Bahrain.
And heading into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Alpine has announced a shuffle in its technical department, with technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer leaving their positions.
Team Principal Bruno Famin now has a new technical team beneath him, with Joe Burnell announced as technical director (engineering), David Wheater as technical director (aerodynamics) and Ciaron Pilbeam as technical director (performance). Eric Meignan remains in his position as technical director (power unit), although his focus is on developing the new engine for the 2026 season.