F1 technical expert believes one part on Alpine’s car will look ‘quite different’ at testing

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Alpine revealed the A524 ahead of the 2024 season in February, but when they arrive at testing one part is likely to look very different compared to their initial launch.

After an underwhelming campaign in 2023, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will hope they’re going in the right direction this season.

Speaking on the Short Corners with Peter Windsor Podcast, technical expert Craig Scarborough shared an interesting observation about the French team’s latest car.

Alpine will use different part during 2024 testing

There is a lot of expectation at Alpine after falling short of their targets last season.

Both Gasly and Ocon stood on the podium in 2023, but that was very much the exception rather than the rule when it came to their overall performance.

When every car was on form and running, Alpine were only ever competing for the last few points and they saw the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin leapfrog them in terms of overall speed.

Issues with their power unit haven’t helped and are unlikely to be resolved before the regulation changes in 2026.

Alpine are going into testing in 2024 with an interesting-looking car, but one part will almost certainly change when they take to the track.

Every team likes to hide a few aspects of their car to avoid giving their rivals any unintentional advantages.

Team principal Bruno Famin will hope that they’re on the right path and can live up to their reputation as an established works team in F1.

2024 a big year for Alpine

Speaking about Alpine’s launch car, Scarborough said: “Alpine, I mean when you speak to the team and hear what they’re saying, they’re talking about being a radical departure for them, but actually, looking from the outside it looks like just a very simple evolution to what they had previously which is certainly no bad thing.

“There are no red flags really in terms of the package certainly with the aero on that car or its suspension.

“But what they have done is kind of reengineer everything under the skin which is probably what they’ve needed.

“So, this is under the skin a completely new car. Aerodynamically, it’s very much an evolution of last year. There’s more carbon fibre on it so maybe they are fighting with weight.

“But there was one thing I picked up on at the launch that again the sidepod front which seems to have become a big talking point although it’s not the most important aerodynamic thing, but it is something quite structural that you’ve got to get right early in the year to get it to work with the floor.

“They had quite conventional inlets, much like they had with the car last year and the year before, but they were painted matt black rather than being bare carbon fibre.

“And when you actually see why have they actually bothered painting them, why aren’t they carbon, I think these are fake sidepod front, I think there’s something much more aggressive coming.

“And indeed, if you lighten some of the pictures and look inside the sidepod inlets, you can actually see an inlet in there that looks quite different.”

Ocon and Gasly’s long-term futures are in doubt

Alpine may have potentially shown off a fake part during their launch but there’s a lot of pressure on their 2024 car to be ready to compete as soon as testing begins.

They brought in Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri in 2023 and while he outperformed teammate Esteban Ocon last year, there’s already talk that the team might look at alternatives next year.

Ocon has already been linked with the vacant Mercedes seat in 2025 given his connections to the team.

Alpine may end up splitting up their current partnership and if that’s the case, both drivers may be driving for their F1 futures over the next few months.