Alpine's plan: 35 HP to match Mercedes in 2022
Author: @AMuS
Mercedes is constructors' world champion again. Alpine finished the season in 5th place. Although the two cars are fundamentally different, they had a strange relationship. When Mercedes was good, it worked for Alpine too. And vice versa. What was that?
Actually, these two cars have nothing in common. Mercedes became constructors' world champions for the eighth time in a row. Alpine finished fifth for the third time in a row. The blue cars were on average a second slower than the fastest car in the field. In addition, the Alpine A521 and the Mercedes W12 are fundamentally different in terms of their concept. Like Red Bull, Alpine makes its car strong. The Mercedes drives comparatively low at the rear.
And yet the two cars seem related to each other. When Mercedes was strong compared to world championship opponents Red Bull, Alpine also cut a good figure in its league. Examples? Portimao, Barcelona, Silverstone, Budapest, Sochi, Istanbul, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. If things didn't go so well for the world champion, the French national racing team also stumbled. See Monte Carlo, Baku, Spielberg, Austin, Mexico.
Alpine didn't like bumps
The Alpine technicians believe they have recognized what the two cars have in common:
"We were always strong on the tracks where the front tire was the limiting factor. Traction was our weakness. And our car didn't like bumps." That was the killer in Austin. Also for Mercedes. The defending champion started the season with a car that generated too little downforce at the rear.
Only the big aerodynamics package in Silverstone finally provided a remedy. Among other things, it allowed the engineers to turn the car on. Which mechanically opened up new possibilities. Like Mercedes, Alpine also drove with a chassis that allowed the rear of the car to be lowered on the straights, depending on the contact pressure, in order to gain top speed. Depending on the number of fast corners, you were faced with the same dilemma. Or you had the same advantage.
Alpine got out of development of the 2021 car a little earlier than Mercedes. The last new parts were added to the car in Baku. Nevertheless, things went better in the second half of the season than in the first. There were no longer such dramatic fluctuations from track to track. Because the engineers understood their car better and Alpine usually came to the tracks with a good basic set-up. "Unfortunately we cannot save too much of this understanding into the next year," regrets team advisor Alain Prost. "The aerodynamics are too different for that."
Renault engine completely new for 2022
The motor handicap remained. After two years of downtime, the Renault engine lacked around 35 hp for the best in its class. A completely new engine has been built in Viry-Chatillon for 2022. Not just because of the E10 conversion. The test bench results confirm all specifications. "If we can get the engine stable, we'll make a big leap," says the team. At Mercedes it's the other way around. The engine had enough power, at least when new. Reliability was more of a concern.
Alpine is cautiously optimistic about the new season. After all, they held fifth place with a technology package that is in principle three years old. "That means that we have improved in all other disciplines. And that could help us next year," said technical director Marcin Budkowski.
They are also proud of their drivers. With Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon you have the perfect mix. "Fernando is just the same again. His experience is a gift for the team," praised operations manager Alan Permane. Ocon has copied a lot from the master. The Frenchman impressed with four strong races at the end. Permane: "Esteban is incredibly good at defending his position. When he's in front, he doesn't make any mistakes."
