F1: After Departures, Alpine Names Three New Technical Directors

After a disappointing start to the season, technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics head Dirk de Beer departed the Formula One team. On Monday, Renault-owned Alpine announced another administrative shake-up, with three new leaders taking their places.

In a statement, Alpine claimed that both had made the decision to go and look for new challenges.

Joe Burnell, in charge of engineering, David Wheater, in charge of aerodynamics, and Ciaron Pilbeam, in charge of performance, are the three new technical directors.

All three will be under the direction of team principal Bruno Famin, who replaced the late Otmar Szafnauer as interim manager in August of last year and now has the permanent role.

A complete top tier, including Chief Executive Laurent Rossi, Szafnauer, Sporting Director Alan Permane, and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, departed the Enstone facility in the span of two weeks last summer.

At the conclusion of the previous year, former race director Davide Brivio also departed and rejoined MotoGP.

The squad dropped to sixth place the previous season after being fourth overall in 2022.

Last Saturday, they began the 2024 campaign in Bahrain, with both cars starting from the bottom of the field. In the end, they ended with seasoned race winners Esteban Ocon in 17th place and Pierre Gasly in 18th.

The adjustments made on Monday, according to Alpine, occurred “after a period of disappointing results” in which they failed to meet a number of important goals.

The ruling FIA claims that the Renault engine is 20–30 horsepower behind competitors, and development will not resume until 2026, when a new power unit is unveiled.

“We are not where we need to be or want to be in terms of performance level, so we have decided to make these organizational changes. It is time to take another step in terms of people and organization,” Famin said.

“The new three-pillared organization will improve work and communication across our technical divisions and help deliver performance from the factory to the race track. The three technical directors are each specialists in their own field.

“I have complete faith in Joe, David, and Ciaron’s ability to collaborate closely to deliver the performance and enhancements the team needs.”