Aerodynamic evolution forAlpine A521 to Imola

After a complicated start to the season in Bahrain, Alpine hopes to bounce back near Imola, scene this weekend of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix (Italy), 2nd round of the 2021 season. 

Si Fernando Alonso had managed to advance to Q3 under the floodlights of Sakhir, the double world champion dropped back in the hierarchy in the race before plastic packaging forced the Spaniard to retire after causing overheating of the brake ducts . 

Trapped by a yellow flag in qualifying, his teammate Esteban Ocon had qualified in a modest 16th place and could not do better than 13th after being notably hit by Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

Even without these unfortunate setbacks, not sure that the new A521 had the weapons to aim for points regularly. 

« We were disappointed to leave Bahrain empty handed, says executive director Marcin Budkowski. The Bahrain weekend confirmed certain weaknesses in our package and we are working hard to progress and gain the few tenths of a second that we are currently missing to fight at the front of the peloton.

Esteban and Fernando did a good job over the weekend, but they both struggled through adversity, Esteban in qualifying and Fernando in the race. We are therefore aiming for a clean weekend so that they can show their full potential ». 

While the 2022 deadline and the aerodynamic revolution that characterizes it are already occupying everyone's minds as much as the plateau's design offices, Alpine, like other teams, has still kept some new features in the pipeline for its 2021 mount. 

« It will be interesting to see how our car performs on a different track after only being in Bahrain for testing and the first race so far this season., adds Budkowski. This will also generate new data helping our development effort.

We will have an evolution of the aerodynamic package for this Grand Prix. In addition, we have a few elements to evaluate during Friday testing to help us define new improvements planned for the next meetings. ». 

While waiting to look to the future, Alpine will try to revive a little the glory of the past on an Imola track where she signed a nice podium with Daniel Ricciardo last year and where Alonso defeated Michael Schumacher at the end of a Homeric duel with the pilot Ferrari in 2005.