Alpine shifts focus with 2022 engine: "Going to do it differently now"

At Alpine, they hope to attack top teams Mercedes and Red Bull Racing in 2022. With another series of changes to the organizational structure, the brand new A522 and improvements to the engine, all the ingredients should be in place to take a big step forward. This is what CEO Laurent Rossi tells Marca.

Rossi calls next season a "game changer" for Alpine. "I hope we can close the gap to the fastest teams," he says. It will take a lot to do so, however, as in 2021 the team from Viry narrowly managed to secure fifth place in the constructors' championship. The new rules introduced this season come at exactly the right time for Rossi's formation.

We can also expect more from engine supplier (and parent company) Renault. Previously, the approach was always very aggressive and the French brand mainly wanted to have lots of horsepower and the focus was less on reliability. In 2022 that will be different. "We are going to do it differently now. The good news is that we have already covered thousands of kilometers on the test track with this new engine over the past few weeks."

Prost spoke of problem

According to Rossi, the engine is less heavy and can perform well in wide range of conditions. According to departed adivseur Alain Prost, the situation with Alpine's engine was not so rosy at all. The four-time world champion saw himself being sidelined by Alpine and therefore decided to close the door behind him. In doing so, he said in mid-January that there was a little problem with the reliability.