Formula 1 Alpine boss Bruno Famin is looking to push the team on after a “turbulent” 2023, citing that the team must “exploit” its resources “to the absolute maximum”.
Famin, who joined the Alpine squad in 2022, was installed as Team Principal midway through last year on a temporary basis after Otmar Szafnauer was ousted.
After a period of instability at the management level, which saw former Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi moved to a new role and key figures Alan Permane and Pat Fry depart alongside Szafnauer – Famin will be looking to take on the 2024 season captaining a steadier ship.
“Clearly, the 2023 season was a turbulent one for the team.,” Famin said in conjunction with the launch of the A524 on Wednesday.
“Crucially, though, it brought a degree of realisation in the respect that we needed to improve our overall team dynamic.
“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.”
Famin will continue stewarding the F1 outfit and has said that the current management structure – which includes Technical Director Matt Harman, Viry Technical Director Eric Meignan, and Sporting Director Julian Rouse – will be utilised to the maximum in 2024 to ensure success.
“We will continue from where we left off from the 2023 season in terms of organisation and general team structure,” he added.
“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.”
After finishing fourth in the Constructors’ standings in 2022, Alpine slipped to sixth last term, scoring 53 fewer points in 2023 (120) than it had managed in 2022 (173).
But rather than set a strict 2024 target, Famin is focusing on overall improvement with the admission that 2024 will be a close fight with multiple teams.
“We need to continue to improve the team to take it to the next level,” he asserted.
“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.”
Helping Alpine achieve its targets is the same driver pairing that suited up in the marque’s colours in 2023, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
Amid an up-and-down season for the team, both drivers managed to visit the rostrum and Famin is hoping for the pair to continue working together to improve the team’s overall standing, labelling Ocon and Gasly “amongst the best on the grid.
“We expect them to continue working collaboratively with the team in improving the overall dynamic,” Famin added.
“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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