Alpine F1 technical director Matt Harman is confident that after the failure in Melbourne, the team will succeed in the following races…
Q: How do you rate the performance of the A523 in the first three races?
Matt Harmon: The results are not quite in line with our expectations, but overall the car performed well. We closed the gap to some rivals from last year, while others fell back on their own.
We perform on circuits with different characteristics, learning something new about the car with every trip to the circuit. We have developed a large-scale refinement plan as the season progresses. Last year we learned a lot and now we know how to achieve maximum efficiency.
Our plan is to continue the aggressive development of the car. We took the first big step this week in Baku.
Q: What will the team bring to Baku?
Matt Harmon: New bottom and some other aerodynamic and mechanical elements. Then we’ll bring some new items to Miami and Imola. This process will continue throughout the season, with additional updates planned for most stages.
The novelties that will appear in Baku, Miami and Imola should enable us to take a big step forward. Although not as important as some media write, it is important to keep the momentum going. We have to give credit to our staff at Weary and Enstone – they are doing everything they can to make the car faster.
Q: Did the incident in Australia affect the team’s plans?
Matt Harmon: Unfortunately in Melbourne both our cars were damaged, but due to spring break we were able to solve this problem. I am happy to report that this has not affected our plan and strategy in any way. Both cars are ready for the podium in Baku.
Q: How hard is the Baku track?
Matt Harmon: The circuit is very interesting, moreover this year the stage will be held in the format with a Saturday sprint according to the new rules.
It is a bumpy street circuit with long straights and fast corners in the center of the circle. Finding the settings in Baku has always been difficult, a high top speed on the straights is important there, especially this year because of the sprint on Saturday. There is only one workout on the weekend – on Friday morning you have to quickly decide on the settings.
Last year one of our strengths was good correlation in the preparation of new products – we put them on the car and they worked straight away. We hope that this year, when updating the car, everything goes as we expect.
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.
