Alpine A521

[Blackout]

I am not 100% technical person.
So, how Renault could not improve like RB/AT? It is 2 second slow compared to last year right? Not sure what Renault

In 2021 the car is based on a chassis that is 3 seasons old and an engine that has not evolved much since 2019 either, because this team had chosen to save as much resources as possible in 2019 and 2020, for the 2021 new rules. Then the freeze and the postponement of 2021 + the capped budget came to prolong their torment and force them to focus even more on 2022.
And no team has made such radical or stingy choices in the past seasons, except Haas.

So yeah, we'll have to wait until 2022 to know if this team took a right choice or not. 2021 will be a long season for them, as expected when the freeze and the postponement of the 2021 revolution were announced...

In 2020 they managed to squeeze a good amount of performance from their RS.19B car, thanks to the thin nose + the differents sidepod philosophy etc, but theoretically they cant extract the same amount of gains and improve as much as 2020 now. It's the law of diminishing returns.

So they have less room for improvement in 2021 compared to their competitors and thus for several (aforementioned) reasons.

[PowerandtheGlory]

I am not 100% technical person.
So, how Renault could not improve like RB/AT? It is 2 second slow compared to last year right? Not sure what Renault

In 2021 the car is based on a chassis that is 3 seasons old and an engine that has not evolved much since 2019 either, because this team had chosen to save as much resources as possible in 2019 and 2020, for the 2021 new rules. Then the freeze and the postponement of 2021 which followed + the capped budget came to prolong their torment.
And no team has made such radical or stingy choices, except Haas.

So yeah, we'll have to wait until 2022 to know if he and his team made a good operation or not. 2021 will be a long season for them, as expected when the freeze and the postponement of the 2021 revolution were announced.

In 2020 they managed to squeeze a good amount of performance from their RS.19B car, thanks to the thin nose + the differents sidepod philosophy, but theoretically they cant extract the same amount of gains and improve as much as 2020 now. It's the law of diminishing returns.

So they have less room for improvement in 2021 compared to their competitors and thus for several (aforementioned) reasons.

Just checked Haas’s quali times in 2020 vs 2021... they admitted they’ve done zero development over the winter- except changing the floor to the new rules.. and maybe a front wing. They have the new Ferrari engine.. but they were 2seconds slower as well with the 2 rookies.
Remember the 2021 tyres are different to last year.. that’s a huge change..

[selvam_e2002]

Thanks

[PowerandtheGlory]

Thanks

No worries, it was a good question.

Lots of team will be thinking the same!!

[Tooooom]

Still paying the price for Abiteboul’s gamble...

[diffuser]

Still paying the price for Abiteboul’s gamble...

Lots of things changing next year.
- 18" Rims (interesting to find what effect that will have on the suspension).
- Reduced wheelbase.
- Slightly different front Wing
- Major reduction in rear wing.
- Completely different floor, sidepods and bardgeboads.

[RedNEO]

Still paying the price for Abiteboul’s gamble...

Lots of things changing next year.
- 18" Rims (interesting to find what effect that will have on the suspension).
- Reduced wheelbase.
- Slightly different front Wing
- Major reduction in rear wing.
- Completely different floor, sidepods and bardgeboads.

Well normally I would consider this a good thing but the way they handled the 21 floor change has me a bit nervous. But on the positive side I think they needed this wake up call to see how badly it could go next year if they are not careful. This year was like a dress rehearsal.. and boy did they need it.

[Blackout]

Still paying the price for Abiteboul’s gamble...

Lots of things changing next year.
- 18" Rims (interesting to find what effect that will have on the suspension).
- very different rims and tires and wheel drums/brake ducts and suspensions
- Reduced wheelbase.
-wheelbase limit is lenient and wont change much of the current wheelbase. The longuest 2021 car will maybe lose 2 centimetres
- Slightly different front Wing
- completely different front Wing
- Major reduction in rear wing.
- ? Rear wing much bigger and higher and completely different + beam wing
- Completely different floor, sidepods and bardgeboads.
- yes but no more bargeboards

--> completely different cars. Only the halo, the mirrors, the roll hoop and some portions of the engine cover will remain similar to today

[Tooooom]

Still paying the price for Abiteboul’s gamble...

Lots of things changing next year.
- 18" Rims (interesting to find what effect that will have on the suspension).
- Reduced wheelbase.
- Slightly different front Wing
- Major reduction in rear wing.
- Completely different floor, sidepods and bardgeboads.

Well normally I would consider this a good thing but the way they handled the 21 floor change has me a bit nervous. But on the positive side I think they needed this wake up call to see how badly it could go next year if they are not careful. This year was like a dress rehearsal.. and boy did they need it.

You’re probably both right but i cant help thinking that that extreme airbox design was either another abiteboul bad decision or the sign of a deeper problem in the technical department.

[RedNEO]

Lots of things changing next year.
- 18" Rims (interesting to find what effect that will have on the suspension).
- Reduced wheelbase.
- Slightly different front Wing
- Major reduction in rear wing.
- Completely different floor, sidepods and bardgeboads.

Well normally I would consider this a good thing but the way they handled the 21 floor change has me a bit nervous. But on the positive side I think they needed this wake up call to see how badly it could go next year if they are not careful. This year was like a dress rehearsal.. and boy did they need it.

You’re probably both right but i cant help thinking that that extreme airbox design was either another abiteboul bad decision or the sign of a deeper problem in the technical department.

Under Cyril’s leadership they have made some truly baffling decisions and this is just a consequence of those decisions so you are right.

Firstly it was a huge mistake to not bring a new chassis and bring forward the new engine architecture for 2020. The second mistake was making the same mistake again by not bringing forward the new engine for 2021 by cutting a deal with the FIA to trade tokens for engine installation like McLaren did.

If they did that they would’ve had free reign to get the best cooling package for the new engine, new chassis and more but still changed what they did under the tokens anyway (they changed gearbox casing/suspension). McLaren have a completely new car paired with a new engine and it shows. Alpine could have been in that position under different management unfortunately Cyril left a year or two too late for that.

[Blackout]

You’re probably both right but i cant help thinking that that extreme airbox design was either another abiteboul bad decision or the sign of a deeper problem in the technical department.

That's a technical decision and he was not a technical director.

But being the team principal, it is certainly him who ordered the team to save its energy in these last seasons, for 2021. So Enstone kept the 2019 chassis almost unchanged in 2020, only reworking the aero, and Viry did little with the PU, both thinking that the 2020 season would be the last of this era... then the freeze came to extend the life of these ageing chassis and PU and to prolong the torment.
The car and the engine were good in 2020 despite all that. But their improvement margin is considerably reduced this year, while others have fresher chassis and new engines.
And it was probably his decision to postpone the PU 2021 to 2022 during the freeze.

[hollus]

That’s team talk. Take it to the team thread, please.

[Tooooom]

That’s team talk. Take it to the team thread, please.

Right, sorry about that.

[Tooooom]

I have a question about the rear brake ducts. Last season the exact same circumstances brought an end to one of ocon’s race (don't remember precisely which one it was), is it bad luck or a design issue? Shouldn't they take those possibilities into account?

[diffuser]

I have a question about the rear brake ducts. Last season the exact same circumstances brought an end to one of ocon’s race (don't remember precisely which one it was), is it bad luck or a design issue? Shouldn't they take those possibilities into account?

I don't remember that nor do I know the exact detail of what got in the brake duct this time. So hard for me to say.

I know McLaren had a visor rip off end up in their rear brake ducts...I've never seen that happen again.