Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi says Aston Martin’s surprise emergence as a front-running team in 2023 has provided a rude awakening for the whole of Formula 1.
After successive finishes of seventh since the Silverstone squad morphed into Aston Martin, the British marque has been a regular podium contender this season.
Following his winter switch from Alpine, Fernando Alonso has accrued six top-three finishes in the opening eight races of 2023 in a vastly improved AMR23 package.
Alpine has gone from finishing three places above Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship last year to lying 110 points behind them already this season.
However, Rossi argues Aston Martin’s improvement has presented a “reality check” for F1 in its entirety rather than solely Alpine.
“For us, Mercedes, Ferrari – for everyone. For the entire sport of F1,” he added via Spanish outlet El Mundo Deportivo.
“It’s an industry that’s been doing pretty much the same thing for so long that it’s become a norm that it takes so long to get there.
“It’s true for everything – for road cars. They (Aston) have changed a couple of things, faster, differently, took a bit more risk and it paid off.”
Following a wretched opening to the campaign, Rossi warned that changes would be afoot at the Enstone squad unless performances swiftly improved.
Since the Frenchman’s public caution Alpine has landed a podium in Monaco – courtesy of Esteban Ocon – and notched points in all of the previous four races.
However, Alpine remain a distant fifth in the standings, with Rossi hinting that the team has looked to Aston Martin’s recent rapid rise in an attempt to make similar gains.
“People start scratching their heads a little more thinking ‘maybe we’re being too conservative, maybe we’re doing too much validation, maybe we can shorten the process here and there’,” he explained.
“Now you look at it and in hindsight it may not be necessary anymore. So we’re looking at a lot of things.”
Rossi previously outlined that Alpine upheld a 100-race plan to get to the front in 2021 but says that number might have increased in light of its current position in the sport.
“It could be 120,” he revealed. “The regulatory era has been extended for a year so we’re going until 2025.
“My goal is that, by then, the Alpine team has the same means as the best teams and operates in such a way that it can use these means to become a credible candidate for the podium.
“We are still moving in this direction, we are continuing to hire, to obtain equipment and resources, and this investment will help us to move even faster.
“That’s why I think we’re still on the right track.”
The investment Rossi has referred to is the recent announcement that a group involving American actor Ryan Reynolds has purchased a 24% stake in Alpine.
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