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Fittipaldi sees Alonso departure as one of reasons for mediocre Alpine
- GPblog.com
Things are not going well at Alpine, not all season in fact, despite there being a podium finish for Esteban Ocon in the Monaco Grand Prix. Meanwhile, the entire top has been sent away and a major reorganisation is about to take place. But according to Emerson Fittipaldi, Fernando Alonso's departure is also a very important factor in that things are not going as well for the French formation.
Everyone at Alpine assumed that Alonso would renew his expiring commitment, but suddenly the two-time world champion announced that he will be racing for Aston Martin from 2023. A major setback, because with Alonso's departure, the team lost more than 350 GPs of experience. Eventually Pierre Gasly was brought in, but he is nowhere near as experienced as Alonso.
"It is possible that when they lost Fernando, they lost a leader in the set-up of the car. You need a driver like Fernando who can help develop the car and make it competitive," stated Fittipaldi, who himself was a two-time Formula 1 world champion. "No matter how much telemetry you have, the driver still has the feeling. He drives the free practice sessions, he has to do it in qualifying and he drives the car in the race. He still has the feeling to analyse where he lost time and where the car is weak and can be improved."
Hoping for turnaround
The Brazilian suspects that Alpine has definitely lost some in that area. But: the lousy situation the team is currently in can still be reversed, according to Fittipaldi. "They are very dedicated and France has a great history in racing. They take pride in their work and they know how to do it. They have financial backing, a very good team and I am sure they will come back." Strikingly, Marcin Budkowski, on the other hand, said Alpine lacked financial power.