Alpine hopes to repeat WEC victory in F1 in Bahrain

Laurent Rossi , CEO of the Alpine Formula 1 team, was very positive in the preview of a Saturday that promises to be one of the most exciting in the category in recent years. Following a major rule change, teams were keen to hit the tarmac in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix to get a first real look at the new grid pecking order.

Although it is true that the French structure did not leave very good feelings during the six days of pre-season testing, the last day with Fernando Alonso at the wheel was very productive and revealed potential that had not yet been discovered until then.

With all the teams hiding their cards, the first free practice sessions of the season in Bahrain brought a smile to the Alpine team, as Alonso himself acknowledged, the performance was surprisingly good.

After such positive feelings and with expectations that seem to be growing minute by minute, Rossi even dared to talk about victory, although he recognized that it will be a very complicated task, since other teams seem to be stronger.

“Everyone is very excited, we have a good mood, everyone is motivated, they know the order of the cars is going to change and we had a decent first practice session.”

“In fact, the first race here is quite promising, so everyone is working hard, with a big smile. So I hope to keep that and continue the winning streak that we have started in Sebring (WEC), but it is going to be difficult to get those first positions”.

In reference to Alonso ‘s surprise with the performance of the Alpine A522 in the first practice sessions, Rossi assured that internally it was more or less what was expected.

“I guess he was surprised for the better compared to the last report two weeks ago. We’ve been working on that though, so I’m not that surprised.”

One of the keys to this positive change at Alpine seems to be the arrival of Szafnauer as team manager, as acknowledged by the structure’s CEO: “He made suggestions from the day he arrived. He has already been fundamental to us by helping us give him priority to a couple of aspects, operationally speaking, fixing a lot of things and also doing long-term planning. So yes, I’m very happy, Otmar is already making a difference”, concluded Laurent Rossi.