The 2022 season has not been easy for the Alpine team so far, as even before the curtain came down in Bahrain, the French were suffering from problems with their new generation car.
After the promise of Fernando Alonso before the presentation affirmed “that it was fast”, the fans were excited about the A522 , but when they put it on the track, everyone in Enstone took a hit of reality by not having the pace waiting in the race. With a car capable of challenging all but Ferrari and Red Bull within one lap, they were almost able to fight for pole position in Australia, but the speed on long runs is not ideal.
For this reason, the Gauls have only managed to add 40 points in seven grand prix, which despite exceeding the 29 of last year, are few, and they are sixth in the constructors’ general standings.
Hoping to fight for third or fourth best team, Alpine will introduce a number of updates to its car for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as CEO Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed.
“We have a couple of modified and circuit-specific aerodynamic improvements for this weekend, before rolling out the next package as part of our development plan for 2022,” said the Romanian.
“The team has been very busy in the last two weeks, with the challenges of Barcelona and Monaco,” said the Enstone team boss. “Now a double date awaits us, this time between two different continents with two unique and challenging tracks.”
Formula 1 will travel from Baku to Canada to cover almost 9,000 kilometers in a week, before heading to the European summer rounds, where many teams are expected to deploy new parts, most notably at Silverstone in early July.
However, Szafnauer remains focused on the Azerbaijan event, where they hope to get a good handful of points, as in 2021 , when they collected 8 points thanks to Fernando Alonso’s sixth position.
“Since it was introduced to the calendar several years ago, Baku has always provided, in particular, unpredictability, as that is the sheer nature of the circuit,” said the French director.
“It’s a track that offers exciting racing with a lot of overtaking opportunities, risk zones and a reward for the drivers, so there is a potential that we must try to exploit,” said Otmar Szafnauer ahead of the meeting in the Azerbaijani capital.
