Amid Fernando Alonso’s Salty Remarks, Alpine Honcho Counts the “Amateurish” F1 Team’s 2023 Blunders: “Sorry to Say This…”

Alpine, driven by Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, became the ruler of the midfield in 2022. This happened after several unfortunate retirements and a close battle with McLaren. The worry of looking over the shoulder for the Papaya team is not a big one this weekend, as both the orange cars had to bow out in Q1 in Miami. The French team has its own demons to fight. After Fernando made a scathing remark about the team, their very own CEO, Laurent Rossi, declared his disappointment with the team.

The Alpine honcho spoke elaborately on the lack of performance exhibited by the team. While he accepts that there has been a lack of rigor in the execution, he points at the mentality of the team, which is not at the level where it should have been. Alpine, which was previously Renault, has achieved much in the sport, including two championships with Fernando Alonso. However, eight points on the board after 4 races has been a terrible return.

Not impressed by the plethora of mistakes that the team has made. As quoted by the Race, Rossi said, “Finally, this year we have started with a performance deficit, on one hand, and also an execution deficit—That’s a lot – and it shows.” He highlighted a bitter truth, saying, “Because we are in a position that is not at all worthy of the resources invested, and we are far – very far—from the final objective of the year.” And eventually concluded with, “I didn’t like the first Grand Prix because there was a lot of—I’m sorry to say this—but dilettantism [amateurishness]… that led to a result that was not the right one, that was mediocre, bad.–And that is not acceptable.”

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And while we are on the topic of Salty remarks, Fernando was rather feisty during the Free Practice.

What exactly did Fernando Alonso say?

Alonso and Alpine’s relations started turning sour towards the end of last year. And while the former gave them a boot and made a very successful switch to Aston Martin, he never shies away from snubbing them. He took a direct jab at Alpine, who finished ahead of the rest of the midfield last year. And a moment in FP2 served Fernando with another opportunity to do so.

During FP2, Alonso got annoyed by Esteban Ocon trying to get faster in free practice. Speaking to his engineer, Alonso said, “Alpine is competing with us in free practice?”

The engineer replied, “Yes, be careful. You were on a fast lap.” The Spaniard, with his claws and elbows out, then said, “Yes, understood. Free practice is his moment,” said the former Alpine man.

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Do you think Fernando Alonso will take his third title with his new team? Will giving a boot to Alpine be a fruitful last investment?