In 2022, the Alpine team lost a lot of points due to retirements, the reasons for which were often related to the power plant. Renault chief engineer Bruno Famin said engineers at Viry have been working hard in the off-season to improve the engine’s reliability.
Q: In anticipation of your second season on the team. How do you rate the past year 2022?
Bruno Family: Of course we consider the fourth place in the constructors’ championship at the end of last year as a success. The team is pleased with the result, which came at a time of revolutionary changes in chassis and powerplant regulations.
Given the engine shutdown, we’ve taken an aggressive approach to development that has brought us both joyful and bitter moments over the past year. It was an honor to see how closely the Enstone and Weary teams have done a great job of seamlessly and efficiently integrating the engine into the chassis and maximizing our capabilities over the course of the year.
Question: What changes have occurred in Viri in the past year?
Bruno Family: I would say 2022 turned out to be a bit of a transition year in Viri. Now just over 300 people are working on the project in Formula 1 and we have expanded the base by building new buildings. We are continuing to implement the plan to modernize the dynamic test benches and are building two new dynamic test benches for electric motors.
Our structure is evolving to enable us to interact more effectively with Enstone’s professionals. The investments and improvements allow us to be more efficient in developing the next generation of powertrains for 2026.
Q: What can you tell us about the 2023 Renault e-Tech RE23 engine?
Bruno Family: We worked closely with the team at Enstone to better integrate all the power plant systems into the car. In January we shared a new test base in Viry, an important milestone in the integration of the A523 chassis and RE23 engine.
We recently developed a new coolant pump to address the reliability issues that plagued us in 2022. It is new, designed in a new place and we are sure that the problem is solved now.
We have had an intense period testing the reliability of the plant on a dynamic stand in Viry. Now we look forward to the track results to see if the work done has paid off.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
