Alpine

Alpine in 2024

Alpine head into 2024 hoping for a more exciting campaign. The French manufacturer was effectively in no man’s land last season, often too slow to compete with the top four teams, but way clear of the lower midfield.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon showed flashes, capitalising on Alpine’s rare upturn in performance to score podium finishes at Zandvoort and Monaco respectively. However, on the whole, it was an underwhelming campaign for the Enstone team.

It wasn’t too surprising to see Alpine make wholesale management changes mid-season as Otmar Szafnauer and Alan Permane lost their jobs. Bruno Famin has taken the role of team boss in a big year for the team.

Alpine’s main hope is that they can bridge the gap to the top five teams - and make it a big six.

Alpine's F1 history

‘Team Enstone’s F1 history stretches back to the 1980s. Starting off with Toleman, then Benetton, before Renault under its various guises (Lotus, Renault and now Alpine).

Their first period of success was in the Benetton era, storming to two drivers’ world championships with Michael Schumacher. His departure to Ferrari in 1996 inevitably resulted in their decline.

Fast forward to 2002, the Renault name was back on the grid. In 2005, the team claimed drivers’ and constructors’ titles with Fernando Alonso coming out on top ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

One year later, they backed it up, this time Alonso going head-to-head with Schumacher. In similar fashion to Benetton with Schumacher, Alonso’s departure coincided with their small decline.

Alonso ultimately returned in 2008 - but could only muster two victories as they languished behind McLaren and Ferrari. The ‘Crash-gate’ scandal put immense pressure on the team, and while 2010 was respectable in the hands of Kubica, the team was ultimately sold to Genii Capital with Lotus cars as the title sponsor.

Under the Lotus-Renault name, the team returned to being a front-runner, spearheaded by Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn finished third in the 2012 championship - and fifth in 2013 despite missing the final two races.

Financial troubles meant they lost Raikkonen before another disappointing era. Renault’s underperforming power unit meant 2014 and 2015 were poor years for them.

The team soon returned to Renault ownership in 2016, but since then, ‘Team Enstone’ have found themselves to be in a familiar position. Stuck between fourth and sixth in the constructors’ championship, under the Renault and now Alpine name, they’ve struggled to bridge the gap to F1’s leading factory outfits.