Alpine Revive Rivalry with McLaren - France 2022
Source: FIA
Another trip to Le Castellet and another instance of Paul Ricard sticking to its tradition of underwhelming races. Not even the new regulations for the 2022 season could offset the track’s affinity for difficult overtaking. Once again, the pinching corners of sectors 1 and 3 proved to be too much to conquer as pursuing drivers fought to reign in the competition. Worse yet, Charles' Leclerc’s crash on lap 18 removed the variable of tyre strategy - as most drivers took the opportunity to complete their mandatory pitstops (with Haas going as far as completing the 2nd stop). With the grid more or less in the same order, the race became a story of tyre management as drivers looked to see the chequered flag without making another stop. Given this backdrop, what could possibly have garnered some intrigue? Aside from developments of the top 3 teams, Alpine was able to conquer McLaren to take P4 in the constructor’s championship. How did they do it? Let’s jump straight into it.
Alpine Reignites Rivalry with McLaren
Chart 1: Race Story - Cumulative Delta Plot
As the drivers came to the end of their formation laps, it was McLaren, not Alpine, that had the advantage at the start of the French Grand Prix. Lando Norris lined up in P5 after an impressive qualifying performance, with Fernando Alonso a couple of spots further back in P7, Daniel Ricciardo in P9 and Esteban Ocon in P10. But as he has done time and time again, it was Alonso who delivered a blistering start, climbing up to P5 ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes, before conceding the position. All the while Norris went backwards to take Alonso’s original position of P7 while Ricciardo and Ocon settled into P8 and P9 respectively. But this was only after Ocon got out of shape going into the turn 8 chicane, outbreaking himself into the path of a kerb that careered the Frenchman into the side of Yuki Tsunoda. The tangle would land Ocon a 5 second time penalty that would go on to have greater implications in the race - but more on that later.
After this early commotion, the race settled down, as most drivers looked to get to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy. Alonso continued in a position of comfort, as Chart 1 shows the lack of threat or challenge from Norris behind. It was a different story further back, as Ricciardo started to suffer from signs of wear much sooner than the other drivers. By lap 6, the Australian driver was beginning to fall into the clutches of his old teammate and would eventually concede the position. From there, the pace continued to drop, but Ocon wasn’t able to clear enough of a gap to overcome his incoming penalty. Nevertheless, the deployment of the safety car and subsequent cheap pitstop was too good an opportunity to pass up. And so, Ocon resumed the race once more - but once again, behind Ricciardo.
Chart 2: Trend Pace Compared - Ocon vs Ricciardo
Chart 2 highlights Ocon’s tale of two halves. The Frenchman, when clear of the Australian, was considerably faster as shown in the first stint. But things changed in the next stint, with the McLaren not performing as poorly on the hard tyre. As a result, it wasn’t a straightforward exercise for Ocon to overtake Ricciardo for the second time. After all, the first overtake itself was assisted by the Australian beginning to suffer from tyre wear issues. Ricciardo’s second stint was more consistent than the first - as signified by the lack of upward slope in pace between laps 20 to 40. This observation, coupled with the track characteristics of Paul Ricard meant that Ocon had to remain patient for his opportunity.
As the race got onto lap 35, Ocon started to eke out a pace advantage over Ricciardo. Little by little, he whittled down the gap, until he claimed the position on lap 44 as shown in Chart 1 previously. From here on in, Ocon’s pace advantage was clear as day and akin to that seen in the first stint. It’s clear to see that Alpine had the better race pace, but Ocon’s clumsiness on the first lap proved costly as it took him out of contention to take the fight to Norris ahead.
Chart 3: Trend Pace Compared - Alonso vs Norris
Alpine race pace superiority was clearer to see in the battle between Alonso and Norris. Thanks to Alonso’s early moves on the first lap, the Spaniard was able to make full use of the benefit of clean air. Chart 3 highlights this clearly, with a flat and consistent profile in the trend pace compared to the loopy and upward-sloping profile for Norris. The divergence in performance wasn’t as stark during the second stint, thanks to the Mclaren having better performance on the hard tyre. However, this was only true for the first half of the second stint. Tyre life and longevity still proved to be an issue for Norris, as it did for Ricciardo. The result of this was a growing divergence in pace, with Alonso continuing to hammer out competitive laps while Norris was forced to manage and make it to the end without a serious threat from behind.
Putting it all together, Alpine had the legs on McLaren. They could have had a good chance of having both drivers finish ahead of both McLaren drivers had it not been for the penalty. Yet despite the small setback, the French team was still able to claim P4 in the constructor’s championship heading into the final race before the mid-season break.
Watchpoints for the Next Grand Prix
After losing another 25 points in the driver’s championship, Charles Leclerc needs a perfect weekend heading into Hungary for the final race before the mid-season break. Despite the trials and tribulations of the first half of the season, a win here is essential for keeping the fighting spirit alive amongst the team. The tight and twisty nature of the Hungaroring should suit the Ferrari. But can Ferrari’s mind body and spirit find alignment to deliver a win? Or will Red Bull continue operating in their comfort zone and churn out more results? How will Mercedes fare given the struggles through sector 3 in France? And will Alpine continue to stretch their legs on McLaren, or can the British team return the challenge? There’s still plenty to play for as we come into the halfway mark on the season. Catch you in the next one.
