2023 Alpine F1 Team

[PhillipM]

Honestly I think he's closer with 6th fastest, the car has flashes of pace but any time they push a fast lap it looks very, very twitchy, that's likely to seriously hinder race pace unless it's just a setup issue they can change in the next week.

[organic]

Honestly I think he's closer with 6th fastest, the car has flashes of pace but any time they push a fast lap it looks very, very twitchy, that's likely to seriously hinder race pace unless it's just a setup issue they can change in the next week.

they seem so confident though

[PhillipM]

they seem so confident though

So do all the teams that have improved a lot since last year. But that's the problem, the shear amount of other cars that have improved, the midfield looks like almost all of it has shifted up, which is why Mclaren are worried I think. They can see everyone else shifting up and engulfing them in the pack again.
But I've never seen a car being that twitchy and needing that much correction be fast when the time comes - it's too exhausting on drivers over race distances even if the car has flashes of pace, so that's the only thing I'm really going on at the moment.

[organic]

they seem so confident though

So do all the teams that have improved a lot since last year. But that's the problem, the shear amount of other cars that have improved, the midfield looks like almost all of it has shifted up, which is why Mclaren are worried I think. They can see everyone else shifting up and engulfing them in the pack again.
But I've never seen a car being that twitchy and needing that much correction be fast when the time comes - it's too exhausting on drivers over race distances even if the car has flashes of pace, so that's the only thing I'm really going on at the moment.

Yeah I 100% agree

[AR3-GP]

“There’ll be some visual differences [at] the first race,” he told media including RaceFans in Bahrain today. “We’ve got quite a nice upgrade going on for the first race and hopefully that’ll help with our quest to get closer to that third position, if not being in that position.”

Finally, some fighting spirit from this team.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/25/alp ... irst-race/

[RedNEO]

“There’ll be some visual differences [at] the first race,” he told media including RaceFans in Bahrain today. “We’ve got quite a nice upgrade going on for the first race and hopefully that’ll help with our quest to get closer to that third position, if not being in that position.”

Finally, some fighting spirit from this team.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/25/alp ... irst-race/

Did he watch the same test as me? Their car was shaking itself to pieces..

[AR3-GP]

“There’ll be some visual differences [at] the first race,” he told media including RaceFans in Bahrain today. “We’ve got quite a nice upgrade going on for the first race and hopefully that’ll help with our quest to get closer to that third position, if not being in that position.”

Finally, some fighting spirit from this team.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/25/alp ... irst-race/

Did he watch the same test as me? Their car was shaking itself to pieces..

It was explained in the article that the reason they were using the stiff suspension was preparation for other circuits, not Bahrain.

Remember that a team only needs 3 practice sessions to dial in a car for a track.

A 3 day, 24 hour pre-season test is going to be about a lot more than the Bahrain GP.

Nevertheless, I bet the AMR23 is quicker.

[RedNEO]

Finally, some fighting spirit from this team.

https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/25/alp ... irst-race/

Did he watch the same test as me? Their car was shaking itself to pieces..

It was explained in the article that the reason they were using the stiff suspension was preparation for other circuits, not Bahrain.

Remember that a team only needs 3 practice sessions to dial in a car for a track.

A 3 day, 24 hour pre-season test is going to be about a lot more than the Bahrain GP.

Nevertheless, I bet the AMR23 is quicker.

They were testing a stiff suspension for three days? Right.. what a waste of a test.. might as well say you tested porpoising for reasons

[AR3-GP]

Did he watch the same test as me? Their car was shaking itself to pieces..

It was explained in the article that the reason they were using the stiff suspension was preparation for other circuits, not Bahrain.

Remember that a team only needs 3 practice sessions to dial in a car for a track.

A 3 day, 24 hour pre-season test is going to be about a lot more than the Bahrain GP.

Nevertheless, I bet the AMR23 is quicker.

They were testing a stiff suspension for three days? Right.. what a waste of a test.. might as well say you tested porpoising for reasons

Don't shoot the messenger:

https://www.racefans.net/2023/02/25/alp ... irst-race/

Alpine’s car was seen porpoising at times during this week’s test, which Harman said was a consequence of the team deliberately running stiff suspension.
“We’ve exercised the envelope,” he said. “I’m sure you’ve seen some of the footage, we’ve run quite stiff. That works in some conditions, we need to exercise that.

“On this track it doesn’t tend towards being very, very stiff, although there are some circuits during the season where we’re going to be able to optimise and capitalise on that, hence the test. But I think we’ve learnt a lot from that. Some of the tools we’ve got, specifically on the rear end of the car, are allowing us to capitalise on that learning. So the gain is important.”

That's what he said.

[organic]

They looked at the W13 and thought: I want that! Crazy

[McMika98]

Honestly I think he's closer with 6th fastest, the car has flashes of pace but any time they push a fast lap it looks very, very twitchy, that's likely to seriously hinder race pace unless it's just a setup issue they can change in the next week.

they seem so confident though

They are fooling themselves. Race pace today by Ocon towards the end of session was poot, very poor

[AR3-GP]

From a Helmut Marko interview I saw posted in RB thread by Organic:

He currently sees Aston Martin as the biggest surprise: "I think they've made the biggest step forward." But: "I believe that Alpine could also deliver a surprise.

Fascinating

[JPower]

I‘m pretty bullish on Alpine. I like their approach to development and the driver lineup as well.

Hard to judge their pace solely from the test unlike Aston but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

[continuum16]

This is the team I am most looking forward to seeing this weekend. If you watched what was on track only, you’d think they were backmarkers. If you listened only to what they say in the press you’d think they were ready to fight for third in the WCC. It doesn’t line up, but last year they looked bad in testing and were unreliable, but finished in P4 in WCC and double points in the first race.

They have shown they can make a big jump before, and I think they look better than last year, so maybe they will spring a surprise. In reality I would expect them to qualify P8 and P9 behind Alonso and the top 3 teams.

They will probably fight Aston like they fought AlphaTauri in 2021; and McLaren in 2022; splitting the Astons often and keeping the fight close all year even if there’s not a distinct car advantage.

[Spoutnik]

Usually Enstone is really bad in testing but is improving the car a lot throughout the year : 2022, 2020 but they unlock the car with a new suspension at Silverstone etc... This time the testing/reliability went on smoothly, can't wait to see what they got in their hands.