Alpine has suffered an embarrassing start to 2024 in Formula 1, scoring just two points with the overweight, underpowered A524 car.
The French team has dropped to the back of the field alarmingly fast this season. Last year was very different, as it finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship and scored podiums in Monaco and The Netherlands.
They endured the worst possible start to 2024, qualifying in 19th and 20th, locking out the back row of the grid.
A crash between their two drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, on the opening lap in Monaco has prompted reports that the former may be dropped for the Canadian Grand Prix next time out.
“It’s sad, this kind of incident,” team boss Bruno Famin told French broadcaster Canal+, via formula1.com. “It’s exactly what we didn’t want to see. And there will be appropriate consequences.”
Ocon is also set for a five-place grid drop due to the crash in Monaco, which will put Alpine on the back foot before the weekend.
Gasly managed to continue, finishing 10th and scoring one point for the team at the end of another disappointing weekend.
Alpine does have a capable reserve driver available if they want to send Ocon to the sidelines.
Australian Jack Doohan would be the first in line to partner Gasly in Canada. The junior driver spent two full seasons in Formula 2 and is spending 2024 solely as Alpine’s reserve driver without any racing commitments.
Dropping Ocon for Doohan for the race in Montreal would be incredibly harsh on the Frenchman. It would spotlight the French team throughout the race weekend, particularly Doohan, who has yet to make his F1 debut.
Giving the reserve driver an opportunity would allow Alpine to compare Doohan against Gasly amongst the immense pressure of a Grand Prix weekend.
Since returning to Formula 1 in 2016, when it was branded Renault, the Alpine team has failed to meet its lofty expectations.
It won just one Grand Prix through Ocon in Hungary in 2021 and failed to match Red Bull Ferrari and Mercedes despite having a sizeable budget and building their own engine.
In 2021, the team outlined a 100-race project to battle at the front, a mark it will likely fall short of. A floundering Alpine has been overtaken by McLaren, which consistently challenges for podiums and race wins.
Alpine let talent such as technical director Matt Harman and now McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri leave the team, and it has yet to find a clear plan to make progress up the grid.
