Alpine reveal first upgrades for Japanese GP

The Alpine Formula 1 team will bring its first upgrades of the season to the Japanese Grand Prix as it aims to resurrect its fortunes following a wretched start to the new campaign. After the opening three races, Alpine is rooted to the foot of the constructors’ championship as it battles a series of woes relating to the A524 challenger, including areas such as weight and traction. At Suzuka this weekend, Alpine will deliver its first new parts to the car which it hopes will bring down the overall weight of its challenger. “We are looking forward to racing at the fast and flowing Suzuka,” said team principal Bruno Famin. “In line with our 2024 development plan, we are on schedule to make the first updates to the A524. “Although they are not major, it is important for us to add these elements as soon as we can so we can assess the potential and continually improve our understanding of our package. “These updates mainly concern a new front wing as well as the first step of weight reduction.” Melbourne pace track specific Alpine scored a 13th-place result in Australia last time out through Pierre Gasly, matching the squad’s best performance of the season so far. After showing encouraging pace compared to the previous events, Famin outlined it was purely down to the track layout in Melbourne. “In Australia, we were able to fight closer to the points than in previous rounds,” he asserted. “That said, that was likely down to circumstance and track specifics rather than an improvement in performance. And it is still a long way from our objective. “We are motivated to put things right both at our factories and at the track to improve our processes and our car. We must fight tooth and nail to better our performance in all areas.”