Although the Alpine A522 has shown some potential in qualifying, the races have not gone well and the team remains in the middle of the table. Of course, the engine is proving to have taken an important step forward.
Laurent Rossi admitted that he had grown tired of mediocre engines and set a very clear goal for the Renault Formula 1 engines at Viry-Chatillon: he wanted a powerful and competitive engine for the 2022 car, even if reliability was compromised.
Said and done: Alpine This year it has an engine that, although it has been quite fragile in the first races of the season, seems to have finally found its balance. In fact, on the long Baku straight the Renault-powered single-seaters were the fastest of the weekend.
“Reliability was a concern at the beginning of the year, but I think we are now in control of the situation”
“No one passed me! They opened the DRS and I even walked away, it was a very good thing »pointed out Fernando Alonso after a race in which he had perfectly defended himself from the McLaren, much faster in the whole lap.
“We’re better. We have more power, more deployment. We are strong on circuits like this”, reiterates Fernando Alonso, who openly acknowledges the improvement experienced by Renault with the engine. “Last year we had a lot of difficulties in Baku and this year we are competitive, so I think we have made a big step forward.”
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The reliability of the Renault engine
Another issue is reliability. Fernando Alonso has already penalized for exceeding the limit of components allowed by the regulation. However, the Spaniard believes that the problems at the start of the season have been resolved.
“Reliability was a concern at the beginning of the year and, in fact, I am on the fourth engine in eight races, but I think we are now in control of the situation,” says Fernando Alonso. “I’m happy. It’s a good feeling. We change the concept, we change the design, we change everything. It’s working out well, so I’m happy with the team effort.”
It’s true that in Baku Alpine chose a low-downforce setup to be “frighteningly” fast on the straights, but at the next race in Canada top speed will be just as important.
“(In Baku) we went for what we thought was best for us and for our car. Obviously, if you compare it with the others, we were very fast on the straight and had some problems in the corners. And probably more tire degradation because of that.”
“But in Canada we will see what configuration we choose. Maybe not this one (the one in Baku) because it’s quite extreme, but our car normally likes low downforce”concludes the Spanish driver, who after years of hardship with Honda and Renault, finally has an engine with which to compete on equal terms with the rest.
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Photos: Alpine F1 Team