Advantage for Honda and Ferrari: Renault engine not upgraded in 2021

Like Mercedes, Alpine does not want to reveal which areas of the car their upgrade tokens are used for. According to Pat Fry, it would be highly unwise to announce this at a team presentation weeks before the season. Furthermore: the 2021 engine will be similar to last season's.

"It's a matter of principle, you never tell anything," Fry told AS. For the Spanish newspaper, the 56-year-old engineer does not want to go into details. "I myself see something on another car, test it in the wind tunnel in two days and have it on my car in a week."

Sacrificing downforce

The only major rule change in Formula 1 this season is the changes to the floor. As a result, some things have changed in terms of aerodynamics. "We have not yet recovered all the downforce lost with the new regulations, but there are solutions to be tested," Fry said. This will undoubtedly happen during the winter tests next week.

Whereas Ferrari and Honda will start the season with a considerably improved power unit, Alpine will not. The Renault engine will only get a major upgrade in 2022, when the new rules for Formula 1 will be introduced. Why was this decision made? "We had to make the decision last year, during the lockdown, and once you have made the decision, you cannot deviate from it," says engine chief Remi Taffin.

Does Alpine have regrets?

But secretly, Alpine does have some regrets about its decision. Taffin: "I recognise that we could have made it, I would have preferred to have the 2022 engine in 2021." During the season there will be some tweaking of the power source. This will allow reliability to increase and some extra horsepower is also possible. However, this will not be to the same extent as Ferrari and Honda.