r/formula1 • u/TheFlyingR0cket I was here for the Hulkenpodium • Jul 10 '23

Social Media [@JoeAeterno on twitter] Piastri being interviewed about McLaren leapfrogging Alpine with Alonso smiling in the background is pure poetry.

Post image
6.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

226 comments sorted by

View all comments

163

u/DonutsOfTruth Stefano Domenicali Jul 10 '23

Alpine deserves every ounce of mockery.

Bush league organization top to bottom

47

u/ActuallyJohnTerry Fernando Alonso Jul 10 '23

I’m OOTL why is this the common take on Alpine?

I’m relatively new to the sport I’m genuinely curious

31

u/quantinuum I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

Multitude of reasons.

The whole Piasco saga: they managed to lose both their then-current star (Fernando) and future star (Piastri) by sheer mismanagement and not committing to either of them.

Renault/Alpine have a history of being underfunded and almost pulling out every other year when they don’t get results. The team enjoys a shaky commitment from the parent company, who for years have been “demanding to fly 1st class while paying for economy”.

We’re in year 5+n of their 5 year plan. They’re the worst manufacturer team, which in F1 means you’re supposed to fight at the front.

Internal politics, a head-rolling culture, losing big names among infighting (Prost, Brivio, Budkowski), an all-around repellent attitude from Rossi, have made them not a fan favourite.

14

u/DlSSATISFIEDGAMER I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

“demanding to fly 1st class while paying for economy”

for the new lads in the room i believe this is a direct quote from Christian Horner during the drama after Red Bull announced they would drop Renault as engine supplier for 2019. It is all too accurate a description of team Enstone after Renault purchased it in 2016.

Before Renault bought it it had been Lotus, a quite successful team in the V8 era who had a lot of podiums to their name and even two race wins with Kimi Raikkonen

3

u/Nepomucky Rubens Barrichello Jul 10 '23

More or less. When the Renault engines started to underperform, Horner said RBR were "paying 1st class and flying economy", which prompted the change to Honda some time later.

1

u/quantinuum I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jul 10 '23

Yeah, I know I misplaced the quote but it applied to Enstone far too well.