Alpine aware of Red Bull pitfall: 'Then we will never be in front of them'

Alpine Formula 1 Technical Director Matt Harman believes the team will not beat Red Bull by copying their dominant RB19.

The Enstone team has struggled to match the performance of the top tier outfits, despite showing promising signs throughout the 2022 season.

Much of the same reliability problems persisted throughout 2023, while a significant change of leadership behind the scenes compounded their lack of performance on track.

Harman believes the team has chose the right pathway to focus on its own concept, rather than follow the same route as McLaren who have managed to close the gap quicker to the 'big three' teams.

"We think we understand what they're doing. You can't click your fingers and just imagine it overnight. We understand our direction. But I think we've also understood some of the other cars on the grid as well," Harman told Autosport.

"There are some other great cars there as well that have got some really interesting developments. And it's about trying to understand what you're doing, what they're doing."

Harman: It's a real mantra for us to succeed

Harman believes copying another team means you are constantly behind on latest developments, which means beating them on track will be a struggle.

"In the end, if we just follow those people, we will never be in front of them," he explained.

"I think it's a real mantra for us that we need to be inspired by these people, but we need to follow our own way."