Is Alpine doomed to stay in F1's midfield - or will the A523 break it free?
OPINION: The reveal of not one but two Alpines - neither of which the real 2023 machine - in its London launch on Thursday was launch season at its most confusing. In some ways it reflects how the Enstone team's myriad changes of identity has struggled for direction of late. But with a revamped line-up and one of F1's most experienced hands on the tiller, will that change in 2023?
Will the real Alpine please stand up? We’ve had run-ins with the Enstone squad before regarding its launch etiquette, particularly in 2020 when it (as Renault) held a season launch and offered just six close-up images of indeterminate bits of car.
Admittedly, the reasoning was on the money – they didn’t want to invite no-name tech-focused writers (whomever they may be...) to over-analyse a purely launch-spec version of the RS20 it was due to reveal. This writer, who admittedly spent the entirety of 2019’s launch season painfully over-analysing everything in their first year on the job, took the hint – but one still had to file a feature. It got a bit sarcastic, truth be told.
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