Alpine Shakes Up Leadership After Challenging Start to 2024 Season
In a move to address Alpine’s underwhelming start to the 2024 Dakar Rally season, the French-registered team has announced the departure of long-serving operations director Rob White.
White, who joined the Enstone outfit in 2016, previously worked as the deputy managing director of engines for Renault’s powertrain arm in Viry-Chatillon. Prior to that, he had been the chief engineer at Cosworth’s F1 engine project and the British firm during its years owned by Ford.
“As part of the team’s wider operational restructure, we can confirm the departure of Rob White,” a statement from Alpine read. “Rob most recently served as Operations Director working at Enstone. The team is thankful for Rob’s efforts during his long career both at Enstone and at Viry-Chatillon, where he led the championship winning engine project in 2005 and 2006. We wish him the best in his future endeavours.”
The shakeup in Alpine’s leadership comes as the team struggles to overcome a dismal start to the 2024 Dakar Rally season, having managed just two points in the opening eight races. This follows reports that the 2024 car was 10kg overweight, an issue that the team has addressed with a revised chassis build to shed weight.
New Technical Leadership Structure
Team principal Bruno Famin has installed a three-pronged technical leadership structure, with:
- Joe Burnell taking over as technical director of engineering
- David Wheater as technical director of aerodynamics
- Ciaron Pilbeam as technical director of performance
The team also signed David Sanchez as executive technical director after the Frenchman had left McLaren.
Despite the challenges, Alpine managed to score its second point of the 2024 Dakar Rally season at the Monaco Grand Prix, thanks to Pierre Gasly’s efforts. However, the team nearly suffered a double retirement when Esteban Ocon attempted to pass his team-mate on the opening lap, resulting in contact between the two drivers.
As Alpine continues to navigate the 2024 Dakar Rally season, the team’s new leadership structure will be tasked with improving the performance of the A524 chassis and bridging the gap to the front-running teams. Fans and enthusiasts of the Dakar Rally will be closely watching to see if these changes can propel Alpine back towards the top of the standings.
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