Such are the political sensitivities embedded in the Alpine team’s Anglo-French make-up that the shortcomings in the engine bay represent a weakness that dare not speak its name.
“You know I can’t answer that question” was Pierre Gasly’s polite but firm reply in Jeddah when asked to account for how much of the difference in Alpine’s performance in Japan (where Gasly finished 13th) and Bahrain (where he was seventh) was down to car balance, and how much to power unit performance.
