BWT Alpine F1 Team have brought upgraded floor and bodywork components to the British Grand Prix this weekend, and the team’s technical director, Matt Harman, has talked about some of the risks Alpine had to consider in mixed conditions.
With rain coming down in the early stages of Free Practice 1, Harman explained that running in the rain would have posed a risk, as an accident could result in not learning anything about the upgrades:
“We’ve brought some upgrades this weekend, mainly around the floor and the bodywork, which has brought some visual differences to the A522. The main changes on the floor are around the diffuser tunnel and edges, while on the top body we have a more pronounced gully to enhance flow to the rear of the car,” the technical director explained. “So, it’s been exciting to see those new parts being developed and then seeing them on the car today and credit goes to everyone involved in pushing to deliver those on time.
“In terms of our on-track running, this morning was very much stop-start with the mixed conditions, and we weren’t willing to take too much of a risk with such limited chance of learning anything about the car.
“For second practice, we were able to put together some dry running, which has given us enough data to run through to make some assessments for tomorrow. We are now carefully analysing the upgrade components and data to confirm our specification for tomorrow.”
Esteban Ocon has said that the Alpine mechanics discovered a crack in a piece of body work on the A522 car during the practice sessions, meaning the decision to not risk the car in the wet conditions was likely a wise one for the French outfit.
