Alpine sets 2023 F1 season 'reliability' targets after putting Fernando Alonso through a dismal campaign in 2022

After a torrid 2022 F1 season, Alpine is trying to improve its car in terms of reliability. Last year, Fernando Alonso suffered the most from this and had to retire from several races. Hence, he was left quite frustrated and was eventually happy to leave the team and join Aston Martin for 2023.

According to Motorsport-Total, Bruno Famin, who is in charge of Alpine's power units, discussed how the team will not focus on improving the car's reliability by fixing ancillaries and other parts. Along with this, Famin also explained how the team will be improving the validation process, saying:

“We are already working intensively on details, especially on the side of the ancillaries. But the second part is that we are moving forward with our validation processes. We are trying to improve them and do them in the best possible way, much better than we did for 2022.”

The Alpine power unit in-charge further shared how the team preferred to push the development forward in 2022. Hence, in the 2023 F1 season, they will be working on the reliability of the car while maintaining the same performance as last season. Famin said:

“If we didn’t do it fully in 2022, it wasn’t because we didn’t want to. But because we preferred to push the development forward. So the goal for 2023 is to keep the same level of performance and do everything reliably.”

Alpine finished fourth in the constructors' championship in the 2022 F1 season, which is a brilliant result as they are right behind front-running teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari. However, this was partly due to Daniel Ricciardo's inability to compete against Alpine alongside Lando Norris at McLaren.

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Pierre Gasly feels his relationship with Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon is better than most drivers on the grid

After Fernando Alonso left Alpine, the team brought in Pierre Gasly to race alongside Esteban Ocon. Despite F1 fans and pundits talking about the sour relationship between the two Frenchmen, Gasly assures that they will get along just fine.

Speaking to Motorsport, Gasly explained how other teammates and drivers have a worse relationship than he and Ocon. He said:

“I think this is a subject that is talked about far too often. We get along well. We may not be best friends, but we can go through a door together. When I go over the paddock and the relationships between other team-mates, there are certainly relationships that are worse than ours. If the relationship between Esteban and me needs to be discussed, you can talk about 60 per cent of the paddock. So no, it’s fine between us.”

Gasly further added:

“I think it will be a healthy rivalry, and in the end that’s why we both made it to Formula 1. We all pushed each other to the highest level possible, so I’m not worried.”

There is no doubt that the two drivers will have a rivalry worth keeping an eye on in the 2023 F1 season.