Alpine reveal “massive advantage” of no “distraction” as they push to compete against the big boys

Alpine's technical director Matt Herman believes not having Red Bull Racing as a customer is going to be a "massive advantage" for the team. He believes not having to supply customer power units puts them in a strong position for the upcoming season.

Red Bull switched to Honda power in 2019, leaving Renault as a supplier to McLaren, as well as their own works squad, now called Alpine. Later, in 2021, McLaren returned to Mercedes power units, making Renault the only team without any customer supply deal, something Matt Herman believes this is going to be a rewarding change.

In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Herman said:

"I think there is a massive advantage, and there is no distraction. Having lived through being a works team and supplying others working on the engine side where we would have supplied others, there is always an element of distraction and things you always have to compromise to make sure your product can fairly interact with other chassis."

He continued:

"With us, we don't have any of that. It's quite good that our conversations are all about first principles engineering, about how we're going to design and architect the engine, how it fits into a car organically – we don't have any conversations about any compromises."

Alpine finished P4 last season and, with Frenchmen Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly as their drivers, will be hoping to take on the front runners in 2023.

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Alpine boss lays down plan to win F1 world championship in next five years

Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal of Alpine, has stated that the team's goal is to win a world championship within the next five years.

Szafnauer, who stated that the team is continuously improving, said in a press conference ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix last season:

"We'll do the best we can. Not for just this year, but to continue to improve the team. We're on a recruiting drive. We're spending money on tools."

Asked about his team's image, Szafnauer replied by saying that it was being formed based on how they performed on the track. He also said that the team has been working hard and spending money on upgrades to make the most out of the cars.