Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari "playing the same game" amid Alpine 'suspicions'

17 February 2023 , 10:53

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Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari will be out to dominate again in 2023 (Image: Getty Images)

Alpine's power unit chief gave a coy response when asked about his team's reported suspicions over their rivals making performance gains despite the current Formula 1 engine 'freeze'.

Teams are not allowed to make deliberate performance improvements to their current power units. But the regulations do permit changes to improve reliability – which can sometimes add extra horsepower.

Mercedes are alleged to have found around 10 extra horsepower as a result of their tinkering. Red Bull and Ferrari are also believed to have made gains on that front, with Alpine the only manufacturer on the grid going into the new season without slightly more powerful engines.

Recent reports from Italy have suggested Alpine are "suspicious" of the gains made by their rivals in recent times. Asked by Mirror Sport if that was the case, executive director of the team's power unit programme Bruno Famin avoided openly criticising other constructors.

Instead, he replied with a wry smile: "I think everybody is playing the same game. The game is a bit open and everybody has to play the same game.

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"We have different reliability issues, relatively speaking, to the other PU manufacturers. The water pump problem [Alpine suffered], there is no performance in that. The piston ring is destroyed after 6,000km because there are a lot of knocks, so I need to reinforce my piston ring.

Mercedes are desperately eyeing a stronger 2023 after a difficult season for Lewis Hamilton (Getty Images)

"The rule is the same for all, applied in the same way for all. The good thing is the PU manufacturers are aware of the modifications of the others. If somebody is not happy then they can mention it – then it is for the FIA to decide, of course. But the application of the rule is the same for all."

Alpine lost a lot of points in 2022 over reliability problems, but Famin feels the main bugbear at least has been dealt with. He added: "Mainly, the major part of our reliability issues in 2022 were due to the water pump. Unfortunately, the location itself was problematic – to change it we had to make some modifications on the pump itself, and for the location on the car.

"That's why it was not possible to change it during the season last year. We tried to reduce the risk of failure. On the new car we changed the location of the water pump, and that's what we've done on the A523. But there is no impact on the performance."

Daniel Moxon