The French manufacturer has accelerated the improvement of the floor for this weekend’s round in Shanghai, in a bid to bring more performance after a difficult start to the year.
It will be used exclusively by Esteban Ocon this time, before both drivers have it for the next race in Miami.
But interestingly, the revised chassis the parts are mounted on is not only lighter than the version the team has used so far, but it is also its third monocoque of the year, which means she will have a spare for the first time.
Alpine’s technical director (performance), Ciaron Pilbeam, explained: “This is the first race of the third chassis here.”
As well as moving forward with aerodynamic developments (detailed below), Alpine has also reduced the weight of its car, with it exceeding the minimum weight limit earlier this year.
Although the team was not yet where they wanted to be, Pilbeam felt it would not be long before they reached their target as he confirmed the upgraded car was lighter.
“We’re almost there and we’ll be there in the next race or two,” he said.
“It’s a program we already had in place before the first race, and it’s not just one thing – it’s just many small reductions that will get us there.”
Asked if that meant hitting the minimum weight limit or being below it to give him freedom with the ballast, Pilbeam replied: “I don’t want to go into too much detail, but we’ll soon be in a place we are happy with. , to be able to give us a little flexibility while still going to the limit.
Alpine has fast-tracked its latest development so it can be used at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Naturally, we do not see any changes that could have been made to the most critical underpinning of the floor. But changes are visible at the ground edge and edge wing.
The forward section of the edge wing, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the two-tiered, C-shaped wing stack seen on the Red Bull, remains largely intact during overhaul, the emphasis being put more on the rear section.
This starts with the element cambering as it is moved away from the front section, with the wing edge and floor geometry being changed to accommodate a cutout in the floor.
The cutout not only causes the spit area of the rear tire to increase relative to the section in front of it, but also causes this front area to lean.
These two surfaces are intersected by a new dogleg section at the rear of the edge wing which forms a wing-like element that connects to the underside of the floor and removes the tapered tail of the edge wing .
Interestingly, this is something of a throwback for Alpine, as the A523 (see box) featured a cutout in the rear floor, with a raised rear platform.
Previously, the winglet protruding from the cutout was not connected to the wing edge on this occasion, suggesting that the team found performance in combining the two design solutions.
The French manufacturer has accelerated the improvement of the floor for this weekend’s round in Shanghai, in a bid to bring more performance after a difficult start to the year.
It will be used exclusively by Esteban Ocon this time, before both drivers have it for the next race in Miami.
But interestingly, the revised chassis the parts are mounted on is not only lighter than the version the team has used so far, but it is also its third monocoque of the year, which means she will have a spare for the first time.
Alpine’s technical director (performance), Ciaron Pilbeam, explained: “This is the first race of the third chassis here.”
As well as moving forward with aerodynamic developments (detailed below), Alpine has also reduced the weight of its car, with it exceeding the minimum weight limit earlier this year.
Although the team was not yet where they wanted to be, Pilbeam felt it would not be long before they reached their target as he confirmed the upgraded car was lighter.
“We’re almost there and we’ll be there in the next race or two,” he said.
“It’s a program we already had in place before the first race, and it’s not just one thing – it’s just many small reductions that will get us there.”
Asked if that meant hitting the minimum weight limit or being below it to give him freedom with the ballast, Pilbeam replied: “I don’t want to go into too much detail, but we’ll soon be in a place we are happy with. , to be able to give us a little flexibility while still going to the limit.
Alpine has fast-tracked its latest development so it can be used at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Naturally, we do not see any changes that could have been made to the most critical underpinning of the floor. But changes are visible at the ground edge and edge wing.
The forward section of the edge wing, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the two-tiered, C-shaped wing stack seen on the Red Bull, remains largely intact during overhaul, the emphasis being put more on the rear section.
This starts with the element cambering as it is moved away from the front section, with the wing edge and floor geometry being changed to accommodate a cutout in the floor.
The cutout not only causes the spit area of the rear tire to increase relative to the section in front of it, but also causes this front area to lean.
These two surfaces are intersected by a new dogleg section at the rear of the edge wing which forms a wing-like element that connects to the underside of the floor and removes the tapered tail of the edge wing .
Interestingly, this is something of a throwback for Alpine, as the A523 (see box) featured a cutout in the rear floor, with a raised rear platform.
Previously, the winglet protruding from the cutout was not connected to the wing edge on this occasion, suggesting that the team found performance in combining the two design solutions.