Alpine gamble with Monza-style wing in Baku but results are disappointing | F1 Azerbaijan GP. Alpine tried a bold low-downforce rear wing in Baku similar to the Monza setup.

Alpine gamble with Monza-style wing in Baku

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto ended the first free practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix almost 2.5 seconds behind leader Lando Norris and a full second off Esteban Ocon, who was only 18th in the timesheets. Alpine’s decision to test the ultra-low-downforce rear wing first seen at Monza did not pay off, while the alternative “spoon profile” version lacked straight-line speed.

Flavio Briatore has been repeating it like a mantra: according to the Italian manager, Alpine loses around four tenths of a second on the straights at high-speed circuits. Arriving in Baku, the Enstone-based team opted for a bold rear wing solution. In the garage yesterday, observers noticed an extremely flat configuration, similar to what was used at Monza. It was a daring move, because unlike the “temple of speed,” the Azerbaijan street circuit alternates its 2.2 km straight with slow, technical sections in the old city.

Gasly and Colapinto struggle with handling

In the twisty parts of the track, Gasly and Colapinto found the car almost undriveable. After an initial run with the flat rear wing, Alpine’s engineers decided to revert to a more conventional setup, switching back to a heavier downforce configuration with a spoon-shaped main plane and a mobile flap with a larger chord.

Even so, both Alpine drivers ended FP1 with disastrous lap times, finishing behind the midfield and almost a second off Esteban Ocon in the Haas. Although their top speeds on the main straight were competitive – Colapinto clocked 342.5 km/h, almost identical to Lewis Hamilton’s 342.6 and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s 342.7 – the lap times were poor. The huge gap at the bottom of the standings cannot be explained simply by straight-line performance.

Alpine’s crisis deepens

The results highlighted just how difficult Alpine’s situation is becoming. Despite attempting aggressive setup solutions, the team continues to struggle for competitiveness across a race weekend. It will be interesting to see what solutions the French outfit’s engineers can come up with to try and escape this crisis in Baku and beyond.