For many teams in the past, Formula 1 was about survival rather than succeeding, with huge differences in budgets and staff numbers meaning only a handful of manufacturers could ever challenge for titles
Brawn GP’s stunning season in 2009 was the exception rather than the rule and since then Mercedes and Red Bull have dominated the sport.
Speaking to Racing News 365, former racing driver and pundit Tom Coronel has been speaking about the fate of one current outfit.
The introduction of a budget cap has had pros and cons for all ten teams and has levelled the playing field in a way.
However, it’s also made it very difficult for the teams who didn’t have up-to-date facilities to invest in improving them to the same level as the top manufacturers.
Reputations are also on the line and being at the back of the grid does you no favours.
Coronel has now suggested that if things continue as they are, he could see Alpine quitting Formula 1.
They’ve had a disastrous 2024 and there are no signs that things are going to improve any time soon.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Tom Coronel suggests Alpine could quit Formula 1 ‘soon’
It was only two seasons ago that Alpine finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship and were the best of the rest behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
However, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso left the team for Aston Martin at the end of that season and although Pierre Gasly was a strong replacement, it suggested things weren’t brilliant behind the scenes.
Renault – Alpine’s owners – made the call to lay off several key members of staff at Spa last season after a difficult beginning to 2023, but that was nothing compared to the struggles they’ve faced this year.
Gasly has failed to reach Q2 once this season while neither driver has been in contention for points at any of the first four Grand Prix.
Coronel believes Alpine may think about leaving Formula 1 as they’re the only works team being left behind by customer outfits such as Visa Cash App RB.
It’s a bad look and won’t be filling either driver with confidence as they both enter the last year of their contracts.
Alpine need to improve quickly to save their reputation
Talking about Gasly’s struggles and the French team in general, Coronel said: “It was really sad. I saw the drive from Gasly, then I joined the onboard and then on the footage you see the moving of that car.
“He was really struggling, it was not normal. You just see that car moving non-stop, zero balance – [it’s] really bad.
“It’s not just about the drivers – try to get some stability in that team first.
“Before they start scoring again, it’s going to take a lot of time and money.
“And does Alpine want that? We have to remember that Alpine, Renault and the French parent company had expected them to be driving at the top of the field by now.
“They are only going further back and not with small steps. They are really just filling a grid position at the moment and of course, that was never the intention.
“It could just be that Renault will soon quit.”
Both Alpine drivers will be considering their futures
While Coronel’s prediction that Alpine could leave Formula 1 might be a bit hasty, their drivers might not be as faithful to the project as team principal Bruno Famin.
Gasly and Esteban Ocon have both reportedly entered into discussions with Audi about their F1 project.
It would mean driving for Sauber next season who are having issues of their own, but Audi’s reputation within motorsport suggests it might be a better long-term project than Alpine.
Gasly has previously been mentioned when talking about who could replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, but he’s unlikely to be near the top of the list of candidates right now.
Ocon’s Mercedes connections mean he’ll be in the conversation too, but both drivers will have to be patient when it comes to thinking about 2025 and beyond.
Alpine may end up abandoning this set of regulations sooner rather than later and hoping they can nail the new ruleset for 2026 and beyond.
The post ‘It was really sad’: F1 pundit now suggests that 70-race team ‘will soon quit’ if results don’t improve appeared first on F1 Oversteer.