"Alonso or Piastri for 2023? we need to appreciate it"

future of Fernando Alonso is one of the great unknowns in the paddock Formula 1. The Asturian has reiterated that he wants to continue in F1 “two or three more years, either with Alpine or with another team” and he will start negotiating his future in the summer. When asked earlier Spanish F1 GP, the Spaniard assured that he should study the situation and told MD that he had not yet talked to anyone. “You have to see what opportunities there are in teams with options to win in the coming years. So that will be the priority when you plan to talk about the future”, said the Oviedo native, who in turn assured that she feels “happy” with Alpine.

The question seems complicated because it doesn’t just depend on Fernando and his value as a driver. Alpine doesn’t want top talent in its young rider academy, Oscar Piastri (21 years old), stay one year without a pilot. And he didn’t want to lose it. The reigning champion in Formula 2, who will never repeat in the silver class, is waiting his turn without a steering wheel in his hands and clearly does not want to go through the same thing in 2023. He wants to drive in F1. Esteban Ocon has a contract until 2024. So if Piastri is promoted in 2023 to Alpine It’s in Alonso’s place. A ‘rookie’, for a world status pilot Ferdinand.

Or maybe he changed Spanish … That’s the debate that will be within the French team in the coming months, and the best person to talk about it is the CEO of Alpine, laurent rossiWHO attend the MD half an hour after the qualifying session of the Spanish F1 GP, where Ocon was 12th and Alonso, 17th. MD entered Laurent’s office on the first floor of the French team’s hospitality. There he was waiting for us. He stopped typing on the computer and we are welcome to discuss the current economic situation, how it affects F1 and about Fernando’s future.

Why is its partnership with Fernando Alonso so important at Alpine today?

He’s very important on the athletic side, obviously, because he has a lot of experience: two titles, 32 wins and he makes the team continue to thrive within the ‘mix’.

And for the promotion of Alpine in Spain. How did Alonso’s presence help in this matter?

Spain is a huge market for Alpine, and for Renault in general. Our idea and that of our sponsors to contact Fernando is to always have great visibility in the Spanish market. And it worked, because it was leaving. We have opened stores, more than ever, and sales are rising.

Then we will talk in more detail about Fernando Alonso. But first, I want you to explain to me the global situation of Alpine and the F1 team. It is learned that car brands have suffered greatly from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, also from the microchip crisis. And to this was added Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, which greatly affected the Renault Group, which lost what was the second best market and its investment in Russian factories. How does this crisis affect the Alpine F1 team?

So far we are immune and have no problems. First, because we don’t have any (F1) factories in Russia. Second, because we have no problem with the microchip crisis (he threw his fist at the wooden table twice as a sign of hope that that won’t happen) in terms of manufacturing capacity for the team. Covid-19 was clearly affected two years ago, but not now. Alpine is pretty immune by now. The group has a lot to deal with, but it is already heading towards recovery as Luca de Meo embarked on the ‘Renaultlution plan’, fixing many mistakes in the past, a past that is unlikely to be much able to go through a crisis like this. Now, we can manage, we can navigate … of course it’s hard and we want to sell all the cars that are in demand, because this weekend we have a big demand for new cars, but there is a microchip crisis, and in that sense, I trust that It will be better someday.

Do you understand that there are people who don’t understand that the Renault Group is suffering and at the same time can continue to spend money on F1 and afford the luxury of having a two -time F1 world champion on their team?

The plan has been budgeted. We knew we had to stay in F1 and we had to work to the budget limit, and we weren’t going to handle that (the budget) unless things were going to get more complicated, which would be a worse situation than it is now. These are difficult times, but we are not in a stress situation at Renault Group. So we contribute by reducing our costs but not affecting our performance in F1, and that is something that affects other business departments, such as hiring, delaying certain investments, for example , repairing some buildings here and there. , and other things. But so far it has not affected the success of our business plan.

Being in F1 for Alpine should also be very important because of the ‘Great Circus’ plans to run on 100% sustainable fuels.

Of course. F1 is at the center of the project. We are interested in F1, first as a media platform. And second, as prestige within the world of motor sport. We need to make sure you always have investments in the right direction for the long term. This is the last thing we will touch.

Tell me about this season. Is it more expected or just ok for now?

No, not okay right now. We are far from there. We’re currently in sixth position (at the Constructors ’World Championship), so we’re not having a good performance. This is not good at all. In the beginning we had good performance from the car, but that performance was not exploited, because the points we deserved were not added. And by this moment we have been caught by others and we are far from perfect in many places. We hope to come back and come back again stronger. I was hopeful about it. And I look forward to more.

What do you think is the problem? The deterioration of the tires? They will bring new ground for the next races.

I hope the changes will help us improve, but other teams will as well. And you never know what others might bring to the track. The whole package looks good, but I have to say I feel like the strong position we had in the beginning we lost. And we look more vulnerable now and it’s full of teams that seem to be in our performance window. And it’s a result that in many areas we’re not performing very well. On the one hand, car performance, is also about clearly understanding why we are not perfect when it comes to tires. The diagnosis we made two weeks ago, or three weeks, before Miami, taught that the speed of racing was not as good as the qualifying sessions, so not the car or the performance on the wheels, but also the operations we performed. government … the classification today (in Spain) has not been enough, obviously. So we need to learn a lesson and improve starting tomorrow.

How important is Alonso in this situation? He never stops pushing and demanding improvements. Its very demanding. He wants the best of the best and he wants it now. How are those desires managed?

Alonso is very easy to deal with, even in situations like this and more in situations like this. The performance of the vehicle today (Saturday) is not as good as yesterday and Fernando is just watching, talking to everyone to tell them what is right and wrong between FP3 and qualifying because he did not recognize the vehicle like yesterday. That’s all, no more. He’s not crazy, because he’s a great professional and doesn’t ruin the team dynamics. And also, his experience driving and checking with the engineers … he tried to check the problem for 20 minutes at the engineers meeting. Fernando is like everyone else, looking for answers.

Let’s ask him about Fernando’s contract. We knew they had to choose between raising Piastri and not losing him, or renewing Alonso. Is this a difficult situation?

Yes, but hey, this is a situation that wants to have a lot of teams, honestly. But I still have plenty of time to solve it, because everyone knows that contracts are made in September because there is always such a cyclical pattern in the middle of the year. Obviously, we’re talking to two drivers, we’re reviewing options, to see if we’re going to continue with one, continue with another, or see if we’re going to put one on another team and look at other options.

Is the transfer possible? (From Piastri)

If possible. Obviously. And I always say that if I get a chance to scout and match it to my driver’s line-up, I’ll try to optimize it. As long as Oscar knows how to drive, that’s a very important thing for me, because Oscar is a driver who has great value for Alpine’s future. But so far there are many hypotheses in the air. But honestly, this is the last thing Fernando and I are talking about, because for now all we have to do is look at the performance of the car and the track.

Do you have a plan to convince Alonso? Or does Alonso have to convince them?

I think it’s a two-way street, we have to convince each other (laughs). He’s a great driver, obviously, and we, when we need to discuss his contract, we try to convince him. Not just ‘you should drive for me’. And vice versa. We have a great team, we will put a great staff in place, it is a long term plan, we are just in the first step of our plan, we are attracting a lot of talent, starting with Otmar Szafnauer (Team Principal) and we have many pieces that we can build and put that will exemplify our ambition in the project. The road is two way.

Is it more important for you to fulfill your Academy’s goal and bring talent to F1?

May. This is one of the parts we face. Yes, it’s nice to have a young talent trained at Alpine and be able to build into the future, but it’s also nice to have Fernando help us make great progress and help with his experience. And then we need to assess, at the crossroads of renewing or making a new contract, what is most important to your long-term strategy. And this needs to be discussed. This is what we need to discuss with the two pilots.