The alarms sounded early at Alpine. Despite making considerable improvements to their car, the French team has many problems, with engine power and the excessive weight of the A524 being concerns. It is believed that they may be on par with Haas as one of the least competitive teams. Esteban Ocon, one of the Alpine drivers, addressed the potential scenario.
#31 admitted to Auto Motor und Sport that the on-track performance did not surprise: ‘It was not a surprise. We had already noticed in the simulator where the weaknesses were compared to the old car’.
Ocon then said: ‘I think the other teams have improved significantly more than we expected. Unfortunately, you can never predict something like this with precision. There is one problem that is bigger than the others. We were able to solve the smaller things during testing. The balance is not actually that bad. But it will take time for us to get back on track. We recognized early on what we need to work on and passed it on to Enstone and Viry-Châttilon’.
Some believe that the Alpine A524 may be the least capable car in the field at the moment, and the Frenchman did not deny that it could be a reality: ‘They are selling Alpine as the worst car. That is definitely a possibility because the cars have not yet competed against each other. We will know more on Saturday’.
