Under the leadership of Oliver Oakes, Alpine sealed P6 in the Constructors’ Championship after a superb end to the 2024 F1 season.
35 points in Brazil was the deciding factor, but P10, P5 and P7 finishes from Pierre Gasly in dry races in Mexico, Qatar and Abu Dhabi were also key as the team’s Austin update gain them a big boost in performance.
Oakes: Alpine F1 covering off Hülkenberg and Haas in Abu Dhabi
The 5th place from Gasly in Qatar meant Alpine went into the final round with a 5-point advantage over Haas in the Constructors’ Championship.
Nico Hülkenberg had qualified a stunning P4 on Saturday but got handed a 3-place grid penalty post-qualifying, moving the French driver two spots ahead of him on the grid.
At the start, Gasly took advantage of the Piastri-Verstappen collision to move into 3rd, a position he held until he boxed to cover Hülkenberg.
It paid off as the 2020 Italian GP winner finished 3s ahead in the end in P7, securing P6 in the Constructors’ Championship for Alpine by 7 points.
Oliver Oakes discussed Gasly’s race afterwards and how Haas was understandably the focus instead of trying to get a potential top 6 result on the day.
“I think, yeah, obviously the first lap was quite welcome and we exited turn one and went ‘okay this is good’.
“A little bit apprehensive with a Mercedes [Russell] behind you, he kept us honest.
“And then it was a question really of, our race today was against Nico.
“I think obviously, there was good and bad from that, we probably could have been greedy and tried to push on in the first stint.
“But I think obviously, yeah, covering Nico off was the main focus today.
“And I think, credit to the guys and girls for the calls for that and also Nico managing the race really well as well.
“I mean, he [Hülkenberg] had good pace there in both stints really.”
A stunning run of form by Gasly at the end of 2024
In the final five rounds, Gasly scored 34 points as he vaulted up to P10 in the Drivers’ Championship, beating Hülkenberg by a single point in the end.
At one stage earlier in the year, he trailed Esteban Ocon by 4-10 in qualifying. By Qatar, he had closed that to 10-13.
A P3 in Las Vegas equalled his best ever qualifying result in F1 without penalties, although that was a weekend where Ocon had hinted at their cars having differences.
Asked what lit the fire under the 28-year-old in the final part of the season, Alpine F1 Team Principal Oakes explained how he feels comfortable in the car, and is working well with the team.
The Brit also praised Gasly for his composure under pressure.
“Yeah I don’t know, we need to ask him don’t we?
“I think though, and again I’ve not been in this job long enough to comment completely, but I think you can just see with him he feels really happy with the car, he’s obviously comfortable in the team environment.
“And I think there’s obviously a lot to be said for the chemistry there of the car balance suiting him and you always see it during those high pressure stints really, he seems to be able to manage things well.
“And that’s not just keeping people behind, it’s actually with pace as well, and I’ve sort of seen that a few weekends now, when you have got some pace in the car it gives you options to execute weekends well as well.”
Feedback from Luca de Meo
It has been a very turbulent year for everyone associated with Alpine/Renault.
A decision was made to stop making Renault engines at the end of 2025, leading to a lot of anger at Viry. Mercedes will power Alpine from 2026.
As well as that, the Enstone-based squad started the season with a car that was slow and overweight, lagging in P9 in the standings until that memorable day in Brazil. Dirk de Beer and Matt Harman had left in March.
A strong finish to the season has given a boost to the team following the arrival of David Sanchez, and Alpine F1 Team Principal Oakes discussed how proud de Meo has been at the team’s level in recent races.
“Yeah, no Luca, he’s on the phone as soon as the flag drops.
“He’s just been supportive and proud, I think [they] would be the two words I would really say at the moment of everything.
“First when I took the job of what he expected, what he was looking to see.
“And that wasn’t just results, it was also how the team was executing weekends and how the team was behaving amongst itself as well.
“And I think obviously the last couple of races as well he’s just been really honest, it’s great to see the team mixing it up there, and obviously those big results we’ve had, obviously he is proud because the team has been in a tough time.
“But I think he’s just massively supportive.”
