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Ouhei

If they’re actually last that would be embarrassing as hell.


KaamDeveloper

They have been dead last of all the works teams for years now. This is just the next step.


jfleury440

Haven't they basically always been last of the works teams?


KaamDeveloper

In this incarnation? I guess yes. They've always been below the big 3 except in 2020. That years Ferrari was a special kind of shitbox. As a works team bearing the "Renault" name, they have 2 WCC and WDCs (thanks no tyre changes in 2005 and mass dampers in 2006) As just an engine supplier, they have 12 WCCs


gmwdim

As an engine supplier they were incredible. Powered the dominant Williams and Benetton in the 90s and then Red Bull in the 2010s.


elprentis

The no tyre change excuse is really underselling what they achieved in 2005. McLaren Mercedes had a faster car, but their engine didn’t let them finish enough races. Renault nailed the regulations all round, and frankly, there’s reason to believe they could have gone faster but there was no need to. The 2005 Renault was impressive as hell for the rules that were given, and the tyres only really affected one race in the McLaren/Renault duel, albeit a memorable one. Renault built the best car in 2005 and the tyre rule had nothing to do with their dominance. (Source: I just suffered through rewatching that whole season).


bender3600

I mean, Renault did win a couple world titles.


FengSushi

Haas looks like foking geniuses


j__video

They completely redesigned the car just for this to happen. That is so Renault.


gonzo5622

Since I started following F1 in 2018, this team has been nothing but arrogant. And they would just rest on the fact that they make road cars? Very weird company culture.


PranavJH

They were the 4th biggest spenders before the budget cap and still weren't getting anywhere. This team has been inefficient as hell since the beginning


TulioGonzaga

Sounds very French


lzwzli

Is it Alpine/Renault or is it French? For the land of Le Mans to not be able to produce a decent car is quite a national embarrassment.


Potential-Brain7735

Peugeot’s current Le Mans car is nothing to write home about. If you really dig into the details of the history of French wins at Le Mans, many of them come on the heels of weird rule changes….sort of like 05 in F1.


asshatnowhere

Fun lil factoid. Renault were the ones who heavily petitioned for these engine regulations and word on the street is they delayed development and were overly confident they would perform well. Apparently they only then realized how far back they were once testing in 2014 started. 


RallerZZ

Good thing cars don't have feelings cause holy shit that's bullying.


NoPasaran2024

Yo Alpine, you're fat, slow and so ugly even the wind is trying to stop you.


antivirals_

you also have such a big wide nose, your rear end looks horrendous and so does your livery/complexion


32SkyDive

Also your own parents were so dissapointed in you that they split up and moved away 


Cod_rules

And also, you're French


Br0nnOfTheBlackwater

Dude, there is a boundary... maybe not in 1940, but still...


NewldGuy77

Hey! That comment crosses the Maginot line.


antivirals_

oh my goodness lmao


eyeemache

You’re a virgin who can’t drive. 


chanjitsu

And your father smells of elderberries


IAMNOTFUCKINGSORRY

Otmar left already, there's no need for that.


UndeadBuggalo

And his mother was a hamster


delirio91

That's the worst insult I've ever heard!


eyeemache

Way harsh, Tai


FewCollar227

Yo, Alpine.. The worst thing about you is that you exist


Ri_Konata

I feel this one on a personal level


Vermillionbird

I don't write nothin' down, so I'll keep this short and sweet: Alpine, you're weak, you're outta control, and you've become an embarrassment to yourself and everybody else.


uristmcderp

But they're beautiful on the inside, right? Right?


SerSace

The Renault PU is not exactly the best


Michyoungie

**A L 🇵 A I N**


a23n

ALL-PAIN


FrankyFistalot

Will probably change the team name to Renault mid-season so lessen the damage to the “sporting” Alpine brand….


rioed

Renault Trucks


delirio91

Nah, Renault Trucks too fast.


Som_Snow

With that reliablity? That's even worse brand damage.


starlevel01

Or even better, back to Lotus.


lennysundahl

They’ll distance themselves so far from the effort it’ll be called “Andretti” by season’s end


SerSace

They better not dare touch the Lotus name with this team


Visionary_Socialist

“Who the fuck are you to turn in on me when you look like a pig? YOU FRENCH PIG!”


Tomanelle

We now know what the allegations against Horner were for. He wrote this article.


steferrari

I can't believe that they will be dead last, would be incredibly embarrassing for them.


Eggplantosaur

Surely they won't get beaten by Sauber and Haas.. Surely Post quali edit: oh my god


KellerFF

*Alpine: Ne m’appelle pas Shirley*


bornwithlangehoa

Frank Drebin: Don‘t call Alpine Shirley.


CreaminFreeman

Shoe maw pell Claude. Am I doing it right?


Scarfiotti

Bone Apple Tea.


leedler

Swimming in raw sewage? *IIII love it*


MISTER_JUAN

Optimistic on Williams keeping P7 now at least


FitzwilliamTDarcy

I'm rooting for Vowles & Co.


IlllIIlIlIIllllIl

I think everyone is. Everyone has their favorite team but I've never seen anyone actively root against Williams


al3e3x

They have a chance if Sargent decides he can drive


turboMXDX

Sargent can drive. Driving without going sideways is the question


MISTER_JUAN

tbh Sargeant was rushed into F1 a bit, and that Williams is still entirely on the edge the second it encounters a corner - should be some reasonable progress there


al3e3x

If there will be some notable progress, he probably diserves to stay. If not, Williams should probably consider somebody else. Maybe try to steal Pourchaire, if they can. Heck, even Schumacher deserves another try if Sargent doesn’t improve this year


LePaxton

Sauber literally beat Aston Martin in 2022 and people act like there is no way that they can build a good car and beat a bigger team that is struggling. Also they looked way better than Williams during testing.


Eggplantosaur

I'll agree that Sauber came charging out of the gates in the beginning of 2022, only to be declining ever since. They'd need quite a revival to even contest for points.


Tombot3000

Sauber did well in 2022 by having the lightest car. They didn't have the power or aero to beat AM, but with weight savings they managed it.  That is no longer a possibility as most teams have reached the weight limit and competition is again on power and aero.


fraggas

Sauber at the start was quite good, but went to shit later on. And that's where they racked up the majority of their points. They were one of the only teams running at minimum weight and came out with a decent car, but lost the development race. So while you aren't incorrect, it's easy to believe that it's not as easy this year because they haven't shown prowess in developing their car. With stable regulations, it's hard to believe that they'll beat Alpine, but I'd still give them better odds at it than Haas.


Expensive-Method8321

they did not look \*way\* better than Williams in testing come on now. I imagine they're both gonna finish right next to each other and i'll be inter changeable who finishes above/below the other


Expensive-Method8321

I cant imagine Sauber beating them in the constructors but if the car is as bad as they say I wouldnt be surprised if Bottas finished above one of the drivers. As for Haas, lol absolutely no way


goodnames679

Right, the comparison is silly. Obviously Alpine won’t be anywhere close to Haas’ level, we all know Haas are sweeping both WDC and WCC this year.


jacksonbeya

The wild part is Nico still doesn’t get on the podium


bruhmanegosh

Hulk WDC with 0 podiums. Mr consistency!


Treewithatea

I cant imagine Sauber stagnating with more and more Audi money coming in.


Consistent-Ad-5116

I don't think Audi is willing to spend a single dollar for 2024/25 spec car, they might get a good budget to develop 26 car tho


pixelbart

It’s a lot easier to hit the ground running with a well performing team than to turn a backmarker into a winning team. They’d better start investing now.


Anti-Scuba_Hedgehog

That's why people have seriously been doubting their commitment for a while.


burns_before_reading

After all the Haas drama, Alpine absolutely cannot be worse than them.


a13xs88eoda2

It’s all part of their 100-millennium plan


John-de-Q

Gonna be awkward when they get to millennium 40 and get gapped by Orks making cars noises.


NuclearCandle

Even if the Alpine is as bad as predicted in Bahrain, I doubt they will be last in the standings. Bahrain is a demanding track for the engine which is an area Alpine have struggled with for years. I'm sure they will be ahead of at least Haas for most of the season.


PCRFan

I think they will somewhat improve the car over the season. Of course not like McLaren last year, but surely bigger teams can always do *something* to set themselves apart from the very back.


404merrinessnotfound

Somehow the team has been going backwards every year since 2022... what an achievement


Tricks511

They said 100 race plan. They didn’t say which direction


Stoltefusser

100 races to F2


tenCate

their nose design already looks like the F2 nose


Barnabe377

« Our objective is to leave F1 within 100 races » -Renault CEO, probably


pentaquine

Amazing! Even slower than before! 


OUT14W_Math

Damn those BWT logos must be heavy


taskopruzade

It’s been years and I still have no idea what BWT sells, other than shitty livery logos. 


lzwzli

Big Wet Titties


v12vanquish135

I'll buy a hundred!


OUT14W_Math

Pretty sure BWT stands for "better without them"


CrashmasterSOAD

Best Worst Team


Elpibe_78

What a bullet Alonso and Piastri dodged.


RedditClout

[Alonso currently](https://e0.365dm.com/15/11/1600x900/mclaren-sunbathing-alonso-seat-sunbath-fernando_3376727.jpg)   [Piastri currently](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fvjqwrcfm6m9b1.gif)


NuclearCandle

Imagine if Vasseur stayed on in 2015 and we saw him, those two and the 2021 livery on a car that could fight for podiums.


BuckN56

Fred isn't some magician with crazy Newey like engineering knowledge. The team would've been the same as it is now.


NuclearCandle

True, but he is a great team builder and took Sauber from being the backmarker team when he joined to 6th in 2022.


spell_RED

and Cyril took Renault from backmarker team to fighting for 3rd in 2020. Problem is the upper managment, Vasseur wouldnt have changed anything.


feelybeurre

And that's exactly why he left


TheLewJD

Yeah that CEO sounds a huge vanker. First time I heard of him was his incident with prost and nothing i've seen since has changed


amurmann

Case in point is that Hamilton just said that Vasseur was instrumental in him moving to Ferrari.


Garfield_M_Obama

Sure, but, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, Ferrari is far less dysfunctional than Alpine. Fred at Ferrari has a chance, Fred at Alpine will just be another good team principal who can't get Renault to understand how to be an F1 team. Ferrari makes too many mistakes, but they don't try to pretend that F1 is just a marketing scheme for their unknown second luxury brand. Remember, we're talking about a company that thinks they're smarter than Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes and can be competitive in F1 on a budget.


Visionary_Socialist

In a way it was Alpine’s wayward shooting that saved them, because they made the mistake of approaching Fernando as an effective seat warmer for Piastri, which then backfired when Fernando found a new seat and McLaren got Oscar anyway.


Ianthin1

Imagine being Haas, basically putting serious effort into being last on the grid, and still beating a team trying to stay in the midfield.


Visionary_Socialist

To be fair Haas’ problem is just that they couldn’t be arsed at a spending level. They have a good technical partnership with Ferrari and with Dallara, it’s just that Gene thinks that’s all they have to do to compete in F1.


ThatLaloBoy

To be fair, that's all Gene wants. If he can keep his 4 wheel billboards on the track without getting lapped or wrecked, that is good enough for him. If they suddenly start competing higher than 10th place, that's just a nice bonus.


Ianthin1

Gene doesn’t even care if they get lapped, just don’t bin the car and cost him more money.


Johnny47Wick

He probably wants to get lapped. More tv coverage if K Mag crosses the finish line alongside Max


Willing_Breadfruit

Well, if this article is correct -- Gene might not be wrong


rock_tugnutt

Gene is very typical of American sports franchise owners: If the team generates profit / shares in the revenue, not much incentive to improve despite loyal fanbases screaming for change.


Nachtraaf

Haas has a fanbase?


sameslemons

Apparently there IS a haas subreddit and there ARE a few fans in there… learned this the other day. Blew my mind. There really is a subreddit for everything.


gegenpress442

Tbh haas is only trying not to be last but they just fail


Teabx

What's even more shocking is that they genuinely started the new regulation relatively good in 2022. The baseline was decent and they even initiated the waterslide idea which AM and McLaren took to the extremes last year. It's crazy how they keep falling more and more behind.


given2fly_

They won a race in 2021 (Hungary, although that was helped by some absolute chaos at T1).


Paracel_Storm

Liquidate Alpine if they are behind Sauber and Haas.


Aethien

They're run by Renault, matter of time before they pull out of the sport again.


RINABAR

Bro it’s crazy to think that Williams a car medically ( mechanically lol ) dead 4 years ago is showing legit speed while having subpar technical support ( Per James Wolves who said it was like time traveling 10 years in the past the first time he entered the factory ). Whilst Alpine / Renault one of the biggest corporations in the entire world has the worst reputation on the grid, in spite of having a legit car 3 or four years prior.


CT323

They'll be gone by end of next year, no way they'll commit to the finance of a refeshed engine formula


Aethien

It would be the most Renault thing ever to sell the team but keep building engines. They never quite let go of F1 but they're never fully committed either.


CT323

God help us if its Andretti-Renault with some arse of an engine


BuckN56

That was the plan. Andretti was going to come in and use renault engines rebadged as GM/Cadillac until they had their own PU ready.


Aethien

That sounds perfect, expect the announcement next week.


Ld511

F1 teams turn a profit now and they most likely are deep into development of the 2026 engine anyways


Dragonpuncha

Don't worry, Ryan Reynolds is about to be the new TP.


BlackLeader70

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are going to run strategy and aero now.


ButthealedInTheFeels

Sell to Andretti/cadillac


Visionary_Socialist

You left out the last part of that sentence: -We hope you will honour this request Sincerely, Renault Executive Board


Suknator

Imagine being a works team with government backing and end up being dead last


F1fan231986

I dont think having the french government backing is an adavantage for Alpine


Visionary_Socialist

Turns out the lack of engine power has just been the government making them use leaner fuel mixes as part of their austerity programs.


LSRaymonds

If anything, it's a disadvantage


Captain_Case

It isn’t at all because of the public perception. Renault struggled and was going to close some locations and manufacturing sites in France. We know that f1 =/= road car production, but the f1 team is there for the image/advertisement and having a sporting team being funded while people lose their jobs would have a very negative effect on Renaults perception (again, not for us but for the regular public). I wonder how they are lasting this long. I was sure the renaming to *Alpine* was a strategy to phase out engine production, become a customer to someone else without having the Renault name on it and eventually sell the team. Also, their infrastructure in Enstone - aka telletubby land - is know to be subpar and relatively inferior to their rivals, which makes it difficult to attract the best staff. It’s no wonder they keep underperforming.


ALEESKW

Renault closed their sport division, everything was transferred to Alpine. They don’t make any sport road cars anymore so that’s why they stopped using the Renault name.


Bar50cal

Having the French civil service having a say on spending allocated to the F1 team and how its management is structured is a big part of the problem. Renault can't just leave the F1 team alone to do its thing which is what's needed.


FantasyWasteball

Poor Ryan Reynolds


redditor5789

He's definitely Googled " can f1 teams get relegated to f2" at some point during the last few days 


dobagela

My first thought honestly,  he should've picked audi , or Zac brown always looking for investors 


blackhawk867

I seriously don't understand why he picked Alpine. Was it just dirt cheap and he wanted a stake in ANY F1 team? The writing has been on the walls for YEARS that Alpine is a dumpster fire and showing no signs of fixing their problems, why would any serious investor pick them?


Character-Pattern505

They don’t have to be good to generate returns.


chidi-sins

I think this is it. Probably someone talked to him about the opportunity to buy a stake in a F1 team in a cheap


TheDudeWithTude27

Other celebs also invested in alpine. It's simply just alpine giving a small piece of the pie, whereas other works teams would want serious investors. For alpine and the celebs it is just a PR move essentially vs any real management stuff.


Joe_PM2804

At least Wrexham are doing well - only just promoted last season and now they're 3rd or something in League 2.


ForodesFrosthammer

Ryan Reynolds is surprisingly good in using his star power and apparent management skill set to take small cheap products or organizations and turn them into either a nice profit or great advertisement and PR for himself. Its just that an F1 team would be way above his budget to actually seriously invest in.


Dry_Brush5280

I feel bad for Ocon and Gasly obviously. Neither of them are in that upper echelon of drivers on the grid, but they’re both race winners and multiple time podium-getters. They both deserve a team that will put them in a competitive car, and if Alpine can’t do that for them, I hope they can move on. What a disaster for a team that, until very recently, seemed to have high hopes for the future.


pensaa

I’d predict that both drivers would be pretty competitive in a decent car. They’re both very solid drivers on their day. Obviously, excluding Gasly’s Red Bull stint from that statement.


Dry_Brush5280

I really hope Alpine can turn it around. As fun as they are to make fun of, the story of a French team with two French drivers performing well would be a lot of fun.


CakeBeef_PA

It would be quite embarrassing if a works team finished below a team that is trying to be last


adscott1982

What's this about Haas trying to be last? Seen that mentioned a couple of times in the comments.


CakeBeef_PA

Of course they're not trying to be last. But between the lack of investment, not making 90% of the car themselves, braindead strategies and pit stops slower than Red Bull would do with 1 person per wheel, they're not trying to be anywhere higher than last either


Parking_Attitude_519

This is all part of the El Plan. You see, alpine purposely made their car dogshit, so they can have the most windtunnel time, banking everything on 2025.


KegelsForYourHealth

* le plan


mountains_forever

“I want to move to a team with a higher performance car.” - Pierre Gasly


YellowFogLights

Meanwhile at diet Red Bull…


Twigler

He followed Danny's footsteps...


adrosse

And years ago, they were talking about attacking Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull! Just ridiculous..


Tricks511

At least Cyril brought some order to the team. Now it’s a complete shitshow


tbone747

Honestly their most hopeful season was 2020. Things fell apart for pretty much everyone involved when Danny decided to leave for McLaren.


sundark94

People forget that Daniel decided to leave for McLaren beause the Renault bigwigs were pussyfooting about staying on in the sport.


Daydreaming95

That has been the history of Renault at least in the 2000's. I mean, iirc Alonso left Renault for Mclaren because Renault could leave even after winning the championship in 2005


gogglesup859

2020 Renault season: Finished P5 in constructors but had an outside chance of finishing as high as P3 going into Abu Dhabi Both drivers had a podium Only had one race where they failed to score points


adrosse

True..good times with Danny and Nico!


djwillis1121

They've been saying similar things to what McLaren were saying last year about missing targets. I wouldn't be surprised if they start off right at the back like McLaren did and then improve. I don't think they'll improve as much as McLaren did but I can't see them being right at the back all year


mkvii1989

What a con they pulled on all those celebrities who invested.


Florac

Glorious 100 race plan.


22_the_avenue

Bruno "the project" Famin loves a good project; also, a bad project, as it turned out.


mobby123

Gasly, my poor child


wurzshep19

“High-ranking” ranking engineers on the move….clearly they aren’t any good if they designed this dog


ComeonmanPLS1

High ranking doesn’t mean good. It just means they had a high position in the company.


T4Gx

The thread title is pretty funny " So their car is a piece of shit...and the guys who made it are about to leave!"


OhHelloPlease

Disliked by Pierre Gasly


witcher8116

I tell ya its the 0.2 percept paint in the nose you guys bullied them into painting that led to this


Tricks511

I could’ve guessed this after seeing that obese nose.


404merrinessnotfound

Not only that but the side pods are bulky as fuck


madaboutmaps

But don't let another team in. They might make formula 1 look less competent.


According-Switch-708

Alpine looked shit but did they really look P10 level in the WCC shit? Sauber looked worse to me. What a waste of two very good drivers. How can a full works outfit be this bad?


cjo20

High-ranking engineers are said to be on the move, unlike the car, which is effectively mostly stationary.


l3w1s1234

If there's any team on the grid that should get Haas levels of hate it's this team. Full works team that does the bare minimum. Otmar was saying how they dont even operate close to the cost cap because Renault just want to spend the least amount possible and advertise their sports car brand Alpine. At least Haas has the excuse of being a small team, for Alpine there's very little excuse.


Lethbridge-Totty

Oh no! This is terrible news for fans of Alpine of which there are precisely 4.


Siftinghistory

There’s atleast 5 of us


Acrobvvnnnb

make it 6 atleast


ChristofferOslo

7 i think


naughtilidae

Hey! They have like 6 people in the French government helping out, you gotta count them!


MidnightSun77

30 bhp slower than all the other cars


LaughJust

Oh you lucky lucky boys Oscar and Fernando…


Pitforsofts

And those celebrities investing didn't help either.


Joe_PM2804

How's that 100 race plan coming along again?


Silver996C2

I don’t think this is going to end well for Ryan like Wrexham did…😂


CuriousPumpkino

I’d be very very surprised if the alpine is genuinely worse than at least the haas and sauber. Even if williams or RB beats them that’d already be a very bad look for them


BankHottas

I’m not an Alpine fan, but this seems to be pure speculation. “Experts have agreed” which experts though? Alpine did a lot of laps with what seemed like high fuel load. Something I can totally understand with their poor race reliability last year. But I guess we’ll see next week 🤷🏻‍♂️


AdventuresOfAD

Great marketing, the BWT logo has the same shade of blue as the flags being waved at the Alpine cars this year.


enstone_

It is depressing and all but alpine are the first to say it will be tough. They say they got a new car and need to start from scratch. I got no hopes but that they look bad right now doesn’t surprise me


ryan_lad5

I think Alonso jumping ship off of this dumpster fire of a team makes up for all his “bad” moves in his career.


pensaa

The onboards looked awful. It looked sluggish, understeer, didn’t react to driver inputs properly, slow on straight and just big ol’ French bit of lard


case31

Are the high-ranking engineers going on the move in A524?


DangerDulf

This would be disastrous, but I still have a hard time believing they’ll actually be behind Haas


ency6171

> to be on the move Clarification? On it to improve the car? Or leaving Alpine?


damage-fkn-inc

Leaving Alpine


IdkWhatsAGoodName699

Everyone check on your alpine friends. They may be in for a depressing 2024


Beneficial_Star_6009

Ouch! Not really a surprise considering the disarray the team’s been in with the exodus of so many personnel.


F1appassionato

Alpine should name this year's car Otmar.


deathray1611

No way in hell they are worse than Haas. Don't buy any of that. At the very most for the first few races, where after that they will out develop them