The Alpine recently underwent a significant reorganization in its technical leadership, following the resignations of technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics chief Dirk de Beer. The news of their departures became public during the team’s poor weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where they performed poorly and finished near the back of the grid. The internal announcement of the restructuring was made in Enstone, as planned before the race weekend, but due to information leaks in Bahrain, many team members learned of Harman and De Beer’s resignations indirectly.
The restructuring follows a similar approach to that taken by McLaren last year and involves the implementation of a new three-pillar system at Alpine. This means that three technical directors will be appointed to focus on different aspects of the chassis. These appointments are all internal, allowing for the immediate implementation of the new structure. Joe Burnell has been appointed as technical director (engineering), David Wheater as technical director (aerodynamics), and Ciaron Pilbeam, a long-time race engineer for Mark Webber, as technical director (performance). Eric Meignan, the technical director of the power unit based in France, will remain in his position. The four individuals will report to team principal Bruno Famin.
Famin explained the reason behind the organizational changes, stating that the team recognizes the need to improve performance and believes that a new structure and personnel are necessary to achieve this. The three-pillar approach aims to enhance collaboration and productivity among the technical departments, leading to better performance on the racetrack. Famin expressed confidence in Burnell, Wheater, and Pilbeam’s abilities to work together and bring the necessary improvements to the team. He also thanked Harman and De Beer for their contributions to the team and wished them success in their future endeavors.
While Harman and De Beer’s resignations may be attributed to issues with the 2024 car and the team’s disappointing start to the season, discussions about possible changes in the technical structure have been ongoing for some time. It is possible that the resignations accelerated this process. Alpine acknowledged in its press release that the decision to restructure came after a period of disappointing results in the Formula 1 World Championship, with the team dropping from fourth place in the 2022 championship to sixth place in 2023 and failing to meet certain performance targets.
