Esteban Ocon & Pierre Gasly’s Underwhelming Start Given a Snap on the Wrists With Comparison to Dark Horses Aston Martin

Do you recall Brawn GP from 2009? The team that surprised everyone won the championship and went on to become Mercedes AMG F1. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have been given a scare by their once rival Aston Martin, who are looking to repeat a Brawn GP-like feat. Alpine boss has given the team a snap on the wrist asking them to wake up. Let’s dive deeper into the story.

Alpine has had a subpar start to the 2023 season. After finishing 4th in the constructor’s championship in 2022, challenging the top runners seemed to be the next step forward. However, it was Aston Martin who made the massive jump from being the 7th fastest to arguably the 2nd fastest team on the grid. Alpine is left staring down the barrel of a shotgun as the CEO pinpoints Aston Martin’s success while pinching Otmar Szafnauer. 

Laurent Rossi suggested that Otmar Szafnauer is the one fully responsible for the performance of the A523. He explained how despite having fewer people and facilities, Aston Martin managed to leapfrog 5 teams in development. The team doesn’t have the new plant and wind tunnel ready yet, but they have recruited some great people. Rossi added that it comes down to the creativity and efficiency of the personnel.

According to the-race.com, Laurent Rossi, while talking about Szafnauer, said, “He is responsible for the performance of the team, that’s his job,” He then added, “Aston has less engineers than us, as far as I know. They don’t have their own wind tunnel yet, they don’t have their plant running at the moment. They hyper-charged development by having the right people joining them. It shows that it’s down to creativity and efficiency.”

Read More: Despite Turning the Tables in Miami, Esteban Ocon Sets Sky High Expectations for Alpine F1: “Doesn’t Feel Great”

While Laurent Rossi’s comments are right, Otmar Szafnauer is not one who sits back and absorbs the criticism. The Alpine TP has given justification and replied back to Rossi about the personnel jab at him.

Otmar Szafnauer replies to Laurent Rossi’s criticism 

The Alpine TP suggests that the performance is unlocked back at the factory and not on track. He explained how the hardest thing to do was to extract the already existing performance. Szafnauer suggested that about only 50 people are working on extracting performance, whereas the remaining 1000 are busy building that performance.

According to the-race.com, Otmar Szafnauer said, “The hardest thing to do in Formula 1 is make sure the car has ultimate performance. That doesn’t happen here. There are 100 people here, there’s 1000 back at base, 900 are working on performance, and of this 100, only half work on extracting performance.”

Watch this story | How Aston Martin F1 Turned Around From a Struggling Mid-Field Team to Being the 2nd Fastest in 2023

What do you make of the situation at Alpine?