Famen: There is no question of selling the team at all

The start of the 2024 season for Alpine F1 can only be called a failure. There are four stages behind us, the Renault factory team has no points yet and its drivers have not managed to get above 15th place in the last Grand Prix. Moreover, they only qualified for the second part of the qualification twice.

It is clear that completely different results are expected from a team with such a status and such a budget. For example, in 2022, the first year in which the new technical regulations came into effect, Alpine took 4th place in the constructors’ championship. And now she’s the last.

It seems that in such a situation the Renault Group Board of Directors raises the question of whether it is desirable to continue the program in Formula 1, but Bruno Famen, the team leader, assures that this is not a question at all.

“Our joint project with Alpine is aimed at increasing the fame of this brand on a global scale, and this is done through motorsport, mainly through Formula 1,” he said in an interview with the championship’s official website. – The top management of the group fully supports us. There is no question of selling the team at all. We will continue to work to achieve our goals.

This is not a fun time right now; we are not at the level we want to be. We are not doing this project to finish 15th or 16th. We want to fight on the front row, we want to improve the performance of our car to fight for podiums and victories as quickly as possible.

The management of the group understands how difficult this is. This is a very difficult test, and here we must give credit to our opponents. Therefore, in order to compete at the forefront, we must raise the level of our performance and achieve improvements.

But in the history of our team, which used to be called Renault, there were moments at the very beginning, in the 1970s, when everyone laughed at us, but then we showed our strength. And now we want to use that experience, because we know that everyone has ups and downs. We are going through a difficult period now, but we will try to use this situation to become stronger. Naturally, we will implement the necessary reforms in the team to achieve our goals.

The car we have now is the result of the work of the previous team management. But what’s more important is what we do now, and the work we do makes me happy. There is certainly still a long way to go and much to improve.”

Alpine expects to make certain improvements this spring: for the Miami Grand Prix in May, the team is preparing a series of technical innovations, after which the modernization of the chassis will continue, although at some point it will be necessary to close this program to finish and start prepare for the changes coming to Formula 1 in 2026. But this is still far away.

Both Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are out of contract at the end of the year, but Famen does not seem to be concerned about that, despite the current state of racing at the team.

“We are happy with our riders, and they are happy with us,” he assured. – We communicate with them constantly. Let’s see what we can achieve in the future. We are not in the best position at the moment, but we have a serious long-term project. We have put a lot of effort into the 2026 project, the development of a new power plant is already underway and we will gradually optimize everything.

We don’t have to convince our riders to stay. I appreciate their constructive approach to working with the team, and this is reflected not only in the way they communicate with the press, but also within the team. We are trying to find a solution to the problems related to the car, and both drivers are helping us a lot.

At the same time, we look closely at the situation on the pilot market and we also have our own racing academy, in which we train young talents. We have Jack Douhan, our reserve driver, and also Victor Martin, who competes in Formula 2. Overall we have a wide range of options. We are happy with Esteban and Pierre, but are ready to respond if necessary.

But honestly, we’re not in a hurry. First we need to solve other problems and make improvements. We are ready to resolve personnel issues, but there is no rush.

We understand that serious changes are ahead in connection with the transition to new regulations, and this is a good opportunity to bring about changes in our situation. We want to take advantage of this opportunity, that is our goal.”