Alpine: "There is no doubt that the new engine works"

The fact that Alpine cannot compete with the big boys upfront is not so surprising to the French racing team itself. Luca de Meo, CEO of parent company Renault, is happy with what he has seen in the first four Grands Prix of the season and states that there is still a lot of development potential for the coming years.

Alpine is in no hurry

As a factory team, the formation from Viry has underperformed quite a bit in recent years. From the outside, the expectation was created that Alpine wanted to connect with teams like Red Bull Racing this year, but the team is not putting that pressure on itself. According to De Meo, it is a process that takes time.

"There are more development resources coming up and a better-structured organization. We have brought in or moved key figures like Harman, Szafnauer, Famin and Pat Fry. I thought it would take a year to get the organization in order. The label of contender for third place is being put on from outside," he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. So Alpine seems to be content with a fourth or fifth place among the constructors this year.

There have been quite a few changes internally over the past year. Everyone now seems to be in the right place to open the hunt for the top teams. Whereas in the past Renault sometimes expressed a year in which it should be able to fight for the world championship at the latest, De Meo does not want that. "I distrust those who explain when and why they are going to win the world championship," he said.

There is potential

In any case, the concept of the current car can be called good. "It is still too early to draw conclusions, but some observations are legitimate. First of all, there is no doubt that the new engine is working. The chassis and aerodynamics, the engineers swear to me, are based on evolving concepts. It means that we may have more room for improvement than teams that have taken a more extreme approach," said the 54-year-old Italian.