General
Alpine looks at RB19: 'Think that's a very strong point of Red Bull'
Alpine is currently sixth in the Constructors' World Championship, where fourth place was set as a target prior to the season. That goal has not changed, according to technical director Matt Harman.
Alpine needs to regain form
This season saw a podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix for Esteban Ocon. After the weekend in the principality, results declined and McLaren passed the French formation in the World Championship, for example. There was still a third place for Pierre Gasly in the Belgian sprint race, though, but that was basically it.
Why has Alpine been so stagnant? "We cannot come up with big upgrades every race," Harman interjects to Auto, Motor und Sport. "At the beginning of the season, we brought a lot of new parts to the track. Our competitors did that later." Alpine introduced a new front wing and floor just before the summer break. "We hope this will have a quick effect on the results. We haven't changed our goals. We want to be the fourth-best team and I see no reason why we should not achieve that at the end of the season."
To finish fourth this year, the Enstone-based formation does need a great final 10 races of the season. After all, it is 134 points (191 to 57) behind current number four Ferrari. So in any case, Harman has no shortage of confidence.
Red Bull got it right
With the new front wing, the A523 excels mainly in the smooth and fast corners, or so it is expected. With the RB19, there is only one car on the grid this year that seems to be good at all corners. Harman explains why that is: "Being an all-rounder is a real challenge. It has become harder to combine the mechanical balance with the aerodynamic balance and to understand that. You don't have much time in a weekend to tune your car. So you have to rely on your simulation tools. And I think that's a very strong point of Red Bull."
Alpine itself is (obviously) trying to do that as well as possible. "We are working on it. We need to improve our simulations and we are working on that. Even if you give us three test days, today you cannot show up unprepared. You have to have done your work as well as possible beforehand and show up with a good idea of what you want to do," he concluded.