Alpine's exodus and Belgium's standout stars
My thoughts on the sudden management purge at Alpine and the two most impressive drivers in Belgium.
The most exciting part of the Belgium Grand Prix was not the Belgium Grand Prix.
I thought the race was just plain boring. Max Verstappen easily made it to the front. I thought Sergio Perez might give him a run for his money, but Verstappen breezed past as if Perez were a backmarker. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much excitement behind the two Red Bulls either. The Leclerc, Hamilton, and Alonso order for 3rd, 4th and 5th was predictable just a few laps into the race.
No, the most exciting part of the Belgium Grand Prix was the chaotic exodus at Alpine.
On Friday, not one, not two, but THREE major Alpine figures announced they were heading for the door. The team is now in need of a new team principal, sporting director and chief technical officer. F1 broadcaster Will Buxton summed the situation up best, writing on Twitter: “These seismic shifts at teams are rare. Even more so mid-season.”
The overwhelming feeling I’ve had since the news broke is that Alpine/Renault are demonstrating exactly how you don’t win championships in F1. Constantly changing management isn’t the way to go. My feeling seems to be shared. In Spa, Autosport quoted a “seasoned paddock veteran” who told the publication that they’d be surprised if Alpine’s changes made them successful sooner. “In fact, it’s probably put them back five years,” the source said.
The most insightful article I’ve read about this whole snafu is this one on F1.com. It’s well worth a read. It implies that Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo was the one wielding the axe. Anonymous sources told F1.com that de Meo was given an explanation by the ousted leaders for why Alpine hadn’t moved forward this year - and he did not accept whatever they said. The story continues: “It soon became clear there was significant disagreement regarding the timescale in which Alpine can get into a position to fight for podiums and wins regularly.” If I had to wade into that conversation, I’d say Alpine is now even further away from regular podiums. Though, in a funny twist of fate, they did manage one in the Belgium sprint…
Piastri and Leclerc shine in Belgium
Belgium didn’t excite me much, but there were still some interesting moments throughout the weekend.
Firstly, Oscar Piastri put on a masterclass throughout. He was faster than teammate Lando Norris by about three-tenths in both qualifying and the sprint shootout. His lap in the sprint shootout lap was also only 11 milliseconds slower than Max Verstappen's - that was good enough to earn Piastri a front-row start for the shortened race on Saturday. Verstappen, as expected, dominated that affair, but throughout the sodden race, Piastri showed composure and skill. He held his nerve and came home in 2nd, marking his first time ever on an F1 podium. Sadly, his race on Sunday went much worse, ending at the first corner because of an unlucky collision with Carlos Sainz. Throughout the weekend, Piastri was no doubt the stronger of the two McLaren drivers. That is well worth a bit of spotlight because Spa was only his 12th Grand Prix and he hadn’t raced there since his F3 days in 2020.
Charles Leclerc also had a great weekend in Belgium. He didn’t get much TV coverage during Sunday’s Grand Prix, but his drive to 3rd was strong and consistent. Although he started from pole, it was always expected that the two Red Bulls would surpass him, so 3rd was genuinely the best he could hope for. Given the inconsistent season to date, neither Leclerc nor Ferrari could afford to squander their opportunity in Belgium - and they didn’t. Ferrari should also take confidence from keeping ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who finished 4th. After the race, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur seemed to be doing just that, commenting that Ferrari “have made a step forward”. He added: “We must start off from this point when we are back on track.”
Ricciardo, Perez and name changes
A quick note on Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez. I found it very fascinating to see that in Spa, Red Bull boss Christian Horner essentially ruled out a situation where Ricciardo replaces Perez before 2025. Here’s what he said:
“Clearly [Ricciardo’s] objectives are on a 2025 Red Bull Racing seat when we have obviously a vacancy. Now, Daniel has an opportunity between now and the end of the year to demonstrate that he hasn't lost any of his form. And then obviously, a decision will be made as to whether he remains in that seat for a further 12 months. But it would … obviously be very clear that AlphaTauri drivers … have been placed there to develop them as potential Red Bull Racing candidates and Daniel's very aware of that, and that's his objective, but that wouldn't be before 2025.”
So, will Horner keep that word?
The last thing I want to leave you with today is some fascinating stories about apparent ongoing negotiations for name changes at two of F1’s smaller teams.
According to RacingNews365.com, Alfa Romeo will join Haas in 2024 and the team’s Ferrari engines will be rebranded as Alfa Romeo engines. The publication reports that this is all due to be officially announced during September’s Italian Grand Prix. The article isn’t clear whether Haas will be renamed as part of the deal.
Meanwhile, both RacingNews365.com and Motorsport.com are reporting that Hugo Boss is in discussions to become the title sponsor of AlphaTauri in 2024. It was revealed earlier this year that the AlphaTauri name will be dropped for 2024, but this is the first clue as to what might replace it… Apparently, according to Motorsport.com, the team will either be branded as “Boss” or “Boss Orange”.
The next race
Sadly, F1 is now on its winter break and that means there’ll be no races until the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the month. This race is better known as the taken-over-by-orange-flares Grand Prix because it’s Max Verstappen’s home race. Interestingly, during that weekend, Verstappen will have a chance to equal the record for the most ever consecutive race wins by a driver, which is currently held by Sebastian Vettel, who achieved nine straight wins back in 2013.
Until then, have a great break!