Alpine are headlining the Formula One newsreel again this week and for all the wrong reasons. The team which is four years into its grand five year plan to be winning races and competing for titles, has apparently misplaced the parchment which was their guiding light. A mass exodus of senior personal and a team principal who knows nothing about Formula One have seen the once mighty Renault works team which won four titles with Fernando Alonso, descend into a shambolic mess.

In Monaco there appeared to be a universal opinion in the paddock that Andretti should buy a team if they want to enter the sport, but of course none of the existing ten teams are up for sale – yet. Renault has had a fickle relationship with the years it has fielded a works team outfit, while at times delivering world beating engines which dominate the sport for several years.

 

 

 

Renault to sell works team – AGAIN?

The French auto manufacturer  is part of the elite club of power train suppliers to F1 with over 150 race wins to its name. At 169 victories they sit just 7 behind the mighty Ford Cosworth of yesteryear while Ferrari and Mercedes top the table respectively with 246 and 213 Grand Prix triumphs.

So will the ‘for sale’ sign be going up above the doors of Enstone HQ soon? That’s anybody’s guess. Yet we do know the team will have a new driver line up for next season, with yesterdays announcement that Esteban Ocon will be leaving the team. 

Following a blue on blue incident which saw Esteban launch his A524 machine like an French manufactured Exocet missile into his team mate, team boss Bruno Famin launched his own poisoned tipped spear at his driver stating live on French TV there would be “consequences” and soon.

Ocon returned the favour, pictured changed and wearing his jeans, leaving the paddock with a jaunty air about him before the race in the principality had resumed following the lap one red flag incident caused by Kevin Magnussen.

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Alpine poorly funded

The reality of the Alpine’s current position is due to the top down nature by which the team is run. Honda experienced similar problems before selling to Brawn GP, where corporate bods back at HQ think they know how to run a Formula One team, when clearly they don’t.

Further, having appointed experienced F1 leader Otmar Szafnauer as team principle, he was promptly sacked after less than eighteen months with the team. The Romanian-American did reveal at the time, Alpine were ten of millions below the cost cap in terms of the spending capabilities. Just 27 miles down the English motorsport corridor from Enstone is a team that has been financially strapped for cash nigh on for twenty years.

The Williams squad were bought for $150m five years ago by US based investment firm Dorilion Capital , who also have no idea about F1. Yet as their commercial director revealed in a TJ13 article published yesterday, the Grove based team noe had the clout to spend up to the cost cap limit.

Further, Williams have received a special exemption from the FIA to improve its ageing facilities and equipment, Currently this spend is some £30m a year more than the allowance for the big teams and results are starting to come to fruition.

Williams F1 shock cost cap limit

 

 

 

Announcement timing strange

So what about Esty ‘the bestie’? Was yesterday’s announcement made because he was pushed by the school master Bruno Famin or did the driver who has won the team’s only Grand Prix since the big rebrand decide enough is enough?

Well the first thing to note is both drivers for Alpine are out of contract at the end of this season, and given the obese nature of the machinery with its ‘put put’ engine both have had their representatives scrambling to talk with other F1 teams.

Secondly, given this is the case, why did Alpine and Ocon need to make the big announcement yesterday at all?

“It’s been a significant period of my life to be racing at this team in Formula 1. While I’ve been here for five years as a full-time racing driver, my professional career started at Enstone back when I was a teenager, so it will always be a special place for me,” said Ocon’s statement. Alpine replied in a predictably polite fashion as though nothing had happened at all in Monaco.

“We would like to firstly thank Esteban for his commitment to the team for the past five years. During his time, we have celebrated some fantastic moments together, the best of which coming at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with a memorable race win,” said the Frenchman, though this was presumably written by his PR team as the English is way too good to come from Famin.

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Ocon jumped or pushed?

Previously, Esteban had released a statement claiming to be “deeply saddened by the amount of abuse and negativity” he received following the collision with his team mate on lap one at Portier.

So there are a plethora of reason why Alpine and Ocon made this unnecessary statement yesterday, but two appear to be the most likely. Firstly after his public meltdown on French TV, Famin may have been looking for a way to follow through on his assertion that “consquences” would follow. Having made the rookie mistake of criticising one of his drivers in public, the team boss feels the need to bolster his ‘strong man’ self image.

By way of an aside, even the relatively inexperienced Mercedes team boss never called out one of his drivers in public, when Hamilton and Rosberg were wiping each other out in Grand Prix. Toto Wolff always played the ‘we’ll talk about it in private’ card after each time both his cars came back to the garage on the back of the rag and bone man cart.

The other possibility is Ocon, who is a proud man and a driver who certainly deserves to be on the F1 grid far more than a number of his fellow drivers – the hapless Logan Sargeant springs to mind for one – has taken matters into his own hands as his representatives continue for find another drive for him in 2025.

Ferrari close to another landmark deal

 

 

 

Dominoes yet to fall in driver market

Its a better narrative for other team bosses that Esteban is just another casualty of there Alpine mass exodus, than were it to be believed he had been sacked by Famin.

The paddock rumour mill has fired up with a mix of possibilities for Ocon, while Renault representatives are making it known they are looking to persuade Carlos Sainz to return to the fold as Esteban’s replacement. This in itself is laughable, given Sainz has had a public offer from Williams who are a coherent team moving forward under the new leadership of James Vowels.

Audi are courting Sainz too and despite the current Sauber outfit struggling this season, when the might of the German brand kicks in in 2026, they will soon be on an upward trend given their previous history in various other forms of motorsport.

Ricciardo at the centre of Red Bull power struggle

 

 

 

Andretti can snatch a bargain

Esteban Ocon will have to wait until the Sainz and Verstappen positions are firmed up for 2025, but even a drive at Haas F1 would be preferable to his current situation.

As Top Gear magazine comically notes: “Following a mass exodus of vastly experienced senior staff at the struggling F1 outfit over the past 12 months, including most recently one of its drivers, the team said it would sack itself in a bid to improve its overall performance.

“‘Continuing the ongoing restructure to improve our race pace and development, the Alpine Formula One team and the Alpine Formula One team have agreed to part ways at the end of the 2024 season,’ the team said in a statement released today”.

Andretti Motorsport must now bide its time, because there is surely no way back for Renault/Alpine as one by one the rats desert the sinking ship. The French outfit may be forced to accept a bargain basement pice for what was once the pride of Gaul when their Spanish matador was pitting their machinery.

Russell: “Its good that Lewis is leaving us now”

 

 

 

Hamilton’s former trainer “is more than that”

As if the weight of the world was not already weighing on Lewis Hamilton’s shoulders, last year the ex Formula One champ announced he was parting company with his long time trainer a friend, New Zealander Angela Cullen. The split appeared to be rather sudden as Cullen had been attendance for Hamilton at pre-season testing and the opening Grand Prix of the year in Bahrain.

Both claimed the parting of the ways was amicable with Lewis claiming the pair still text each day and that she is “one of my closest friends” and that “I am a stronger athlete and a better person because of her.” The impact of this news was outlined by Hamilton’s former team mate Nico Rosberg, who speaking to Sky F1 claimed: “I think that probably makes things even worse because even though the split apparently was amicable, you know, Angela was a real friend I think also to him.”   READ MORE