F1 News
Alpine change again: Harman leaves, three new technical directors
Alpine had a dramatic start to the new Formula 1 season, with two cars in the rear. No surprise after the difficult test days. Alpine subsequently decided to change course on the technical front. Effective immediately, there will be three technical directors.
Technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer have chosen to leave the team. They will be replaced by three people in three specialised technical roles. Joe Burnell is technical director of engineering, David Wheater technical director of aerodynamics and Ciaron Pilbeam technical director of performance.
Alpine appoints two COOs
According to Alpine, the three will work closely together and report to team boss Bruno Famin. Within the technical team in Viry - where the power unit is made - Eric Meignan is the Power Unit technical director. He will continue to work on the PU project for 2026. Alpine also reveals that there are two Chief Operating Officers; John Woods in Enstone and Audrey Vastroux in Viry-Chatillon.
Alpine had a very bad weekend in Bahrain. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly qualified on the last row of the grid. In the Grand Prix, they came no further than 17th and 18th, respectively. Only Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant finished behind, but they had technical problems during the race.