Chaos at Alpine shortly before the start of the World Cup: that’s why the bottom four World Cup teams can now hope

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Last season everything was clear: Alpine, sixth in the World Cup with 120 points, was too weak for the top and too strong for the four backbenchers. But the French found themselves in a hole during the winter. Chaos, a bad mood – and three days of tests to quickly forget.

A few days before the start of the season on Thursday here in the Sakhir Desert, the negative news is piling up. In many rankings, Ocon and Gasly and their team have even fallen to last place.

Evictions are the order of the day

Are things going so badly for the team, which has hardly had any rest in recent years and has sent many bosses into the desert on all fronts? Even an advisor, four-time world champion Prost (69), was thrown out. He also criticized Alpine (formerly Renault).

And when the diamonds Piastri (McLaren) and Alonso (Aston Martin) were lost to the competition due to contract delays in August 2022, there was a rain of accusations. Now even some engineers are leaving.

Is the Alpine a ‘cucumber’?

Last week, tests with an overweight car, the front of which almost has a Formula 2 character, went downhill for Alpine with excessive tire wear and poor lap times.

Ocon called it “the best test since I joined the team.” But Gasly said in the same statement: “It will be a difficult start for us. We will hardly start from our usual positions.”

39 points more than a quartet

So it will be interesting to see where the truth lies. In 2023, Alpine scored 39 points more than Williams (28), Alpha Tauri (25), Alfa-Sauber (16) and Haas (12) combined. This time they could be joined by the last four World Cup winners.

But let’s wait and see how bad things will really get for Alpine. Perhaps there is too much focus on the hypercar for endurance racing. Mick Schumacher (24) is in such a car. He dreams of victory in Le Mans, but in 2024 there will be eight factory teams competing in the Superliga.

Horner affair: Ford is putting pressure on it

The Horner case at Red Bull remains open, although the investigation has been completed. The Red Bull team boss’s affair with an internal employee is even a topic of discussion on Arabic TV channels. Now Ford is putting pressure on it. The future Red Bull partner from the US, like the GP owners, is publicly demanding an immediate announcement of the decision.

The majority shareholders in Thailand will continue to be Horner – the parent company in Salzburg less so. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff: “Formula 1 must not lose its credibility!”

Source : Blick