“I think that’s the inspiration to us all”: Alpine on ‘impressive’ Red Bull performance

Sergio Perez (11) on track during the 2023 F1 Miami Grand Prix. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
Sergio Perez (11) on track during the 2023 F1 Miami Grand Prix. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Alpine technical director Matt Harman recently praised Red Bull's unbeatable performance and pace, saying it is an inspiration to every team on the grid. The Austrian-British team have been extremely dominant in the 2023 F1 season, always finishing one-two in every race. Though there are still a lot of races to go, it is clear that they are the ones to beat.

According to pitdebrief, Harman spoke about the RB19 and speculated on how Red Bull could have achieved the unprecedented speed that they have at the moment. However, he admitted that there are many aspects of the car that they are not familiar with.

Harman praised the reigning world champions for the car they created, adding that it is an inspiration for everyone in F1. He said:

"We have some ideas. There are some things we probably have no clue on. There's some things we probably have no clue on, because there's some things that we do they won't have either. I think their ability to run their car the way they do is quite impressive. I think that’s the inspiration to us all. So that’s where we’re moving towards."

Prior to this, Alpine's senior engineer highlighted that while teams need to keep an eye on every competitor and how they are developing, in the end, they need to focus on their own concept. According to him, engineers need to strike a balance between taking inspiration from other cars and coming up their own concept. He said:

"You must survey the landscape, you must keep an eye on what’s going on around you, particularly when there's cars [the Red Bulls] with the sort of performance that they have, but you do also need to keep an eye on your own development path. I think it's fair to say if all you do is copy, you're never going to be at the front."
"It's a balance, and that's what we do, we balance that. We take inspiration from these things. The A523 was a combination of our own ideas and concepts — and inspiration from other cars."

Red Bull first strategist about the most important part of her job

Red Bull's first strategist, Hannah Schmitz, recently spoke about the most important aspect of her job. She explained how remaining calm while strategic opinions and data are flying around is the most important thing. However, she added that having a diverse team with a lot of ideas and opinions helps them make the right decision.

While working from the pit wall, Schmitz said:

"The most important thing about doing the job, though, is staying calm under pressure, when you’ve got all those voices, there’s always opinions as well as data. A diverse team is the best kind of team, and it makes things stronger because then you have more different opinions or points of view coming from different places, and I think that really helps make sure you don’t miss anything and that you can really be the best."

The Red Bull strategist has become quite famous in the F1 community after the team's excellent strategies for the past few months, allowing both drivers to perform extremely well in races.

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