While Alpine secured the best of the rest title in the constructors’ championship, they will be disappointed to not have seen one of their drivers stand on the podium at least once in 2022.
Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from an astounding six races last season, while his teammate Esteban Ocon also failed to reach the checkered flag at two race weekends.
The driver’s downfall was mainly down to an unreliable engine, which often lost power or failed, which Renault engine boss Bruno Famin has hinted is down to the risks taken by the development team in pre-season.
“We took a lot of risks,” he claimed.
READ: Mercedes reveal upgrade which had unintended consequences
“We tried to get the engine as light as possible. We pushed the development as long as possible until just before the season. That meant we couldn’t do certain loops in the review.”
Engine manufacturers will all be looking forward to 2026, when the new major regulation changes for engines come in effect, giving teams a chance to rethink the way the design their power units.
While Famin has claimed that Renault will be looking to take full advantage of the new rules in 2026, he insists that the team will look to solve their reliability issues ahead of the 2023 season before fully switching their focus to the future.
“We first have to make sure that problems don’t recur,” he explained.
“Then we mostly switch to the development of the 2026 engine.
“We’ve been working on that for a few months already. Initially on the basis of the draft regulations. In the meantime, there is something like a final version.”
READ: ‘There was inappropriate language’: McLaren boss reveals Martin Brundle advice
Fernando Alonso’s frustration with Alpine’s engine woes in 2022 saw the Spaniard leave the team to pursue success with Aston Martin, forcing the French team to replace the 41-year-old ahead of next season.
Alpine have managed to pry the highly rated Pierre Gasly away from the Red Bull system to partner Esteban Ocon, leaving the team with one of the most exciting partnerships on the grid for next year.
When reliable, Alpine’s engine is powerful, meaning that if the team can fix their reliability issues for next season, Gasly and Ocon could have a real chance at securing podiums for a team that looked more impressive by the week in 2022.