When Lando Norris took the checkered flag Sunday in the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he not only captured his fourth win of the season but also clinched the 2024 Constructors’ Championship for McLaren, completing a stunning turnaround for the team. After beginning the 2023 campaign at the back of the grid, McLaren finished the 2024 season at the top of the pile, bringing home the biggest trophy to Woking for the first time since 1998.
However, that was not the only stunning turnaround the sport saw this season.
A bit further back on the grid, Pierre Gasly crossed the line in P7, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg. That result clinched P6 in the Constructors’ Championship for Alpine, completing a dramatic reversal of fortune for the Enstone-based operation. After the year began with Gasly and Esteban Ocon at the back of the field, a dazzling closing stretch for the team, which began at the United States Grand Prix in Austin at the end of October, saw Alpine climb up front ninth to finish sixth.
“It’s a great achievement to end the season in sixth place in the standings. The turnaround in the second half of the season by the team has been amazing and shows that the hard work and determination of everyone at Enstone and Viry has paid off,” said Team Principal Oliver Oakes in the team’s media report following the race. “The team never gave up, never lost sight of the end goal, and we can take that confidence and momentum into 2025.”
The team brought a series of upgrades for the A524 to the United States Grand Prix, and as Gasly told me ahead of that race the goal was to “finish in Abu Dhabi in a definitely better position that we are in:”
“I’m not going to go with, you know, a position because it would not be the right target for me. The target is really to see that we’ve developed the car from where we are at the moment,” began Gasly. “I think we kind of started badly, kind of managed to make some progress and then kind of like got out-developed a bit by some other teams. So we kind of went back a bit now.
“We have a couple of upgrades coming and I think it will be important to finish in Abu Dhabi in a definitely better position that we are in. Whether it will be good enough to fight for points, I don’t know. Obviously, I hope so.
“But as long as I just see whatever we’re working on actually delivers on track, then it brings some confidence into the tools and development we are doing and that will mean that what we’re doing for next year will also bring us in a much better, much better spot.”
Mission, accomplished.
While Gasly finished 12th in the United States Grand Prix results improved from there. He picked up a tenth-place finish the following week at the Mexico City Grand Prix, and he and Ocon combined for a stunning double-podium result the following week at the São Paulo Grand Prix. That result, coupled with Gasly’s P7 in the F1 Sprint Race in Brazil, rocketed Alpine up into sixth.
While Gasly retired from the United States Grand Prix after a stellar qualifying session saw him start third, he closed out the year with a P5 at the Qatar Grand Prix and a P7 in Abu Dhabi. Add up those results, and you have an incredible tenth-place finish in the Drivers’ Championship.
All the more incredible when you consider how Alpine began the year, and the fact that Gasly did not pick up his first point of the season until the Monaco Grand Prix, at the end of May.
The driver hailed the entire organization, as well as their rivals at Haas, following the race.
“I am so happy for the entire team as we have achieved sixth in the Constructors’ Championship,” began Gasly in the team’s post-race report. “This season we have had lows which were extremely low and highs which were extremely high. We have been through some tough moments this year and I am so proud of the team’s reaction to turn around our season. We finished it with a competitive car, which has allowed us to regularly compete for Q3 and fight for points in the races.
“Credit to Haas as it’s been a great battle with them at recent races. There was also a little personal battle between Nico [Hülkenberg] and I in the Drivers’ Championship for tenth place,” added Gasly. “It was a close one today with him as it always is. He was right behind me, and I knew we just had to react to what he did and we would achieve our targets. It felt good to run in third place for some of the race but we knew that was not our fight today.
“In the end, an important result, sixth place secured in the Championship, so congratulations to everyone at the team for this achievement.”
The result gives Alpine some momentum heading into 2025, and to that point Jack Doohan — who will drive for the team full-time next season — made his F1 debut for Alpine in this race. While he finished P15, picking up two spots from where he began the day, it also gave the Australian driver some much-needed experience heading into 2025.
Thank you to the whole team for making the transition as smooth as possible. It was fantastic to get back racing, I have learned a lot and gained a lot of experience,” said Doohan. “We finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, which is great, I am happy to have assisted where possible to achieve that, both this weekend and throughout the whole season behind the scenes. Congratulations to Pierre on his result in the race and also getting tenth in the Drivers’ Championship. I am looking forward to next season, kicking it off with my home race in Australia and continuing to work and progress with the team.”
In Austin at the end of October Oakes told me while 2025 is an important season for Alpine, 2026 is their biggest goal, given the new regulations that will shake up the sport that year.
“And then you go into the winter, you know, we’ve got it at the moment, where how much effort do you put into the beginning of 2025? Because the new rules come out in January and you kind of go, well, we want to make a really good car to start 2025,” Oakes said to SB Nation at the United States Grand Prix. “But actually, we know 2026 is the most important thing for the team.
“It is a real good challenge because, actually, you’ve got to be really smart, strategic, and some of it is a little bit of, I wouldn’t say luck, but if you make the right steps and they pay off, you’ve kind of got more breathing room to go and focus on the longer-term stuff.”
The end of the 2024 campaign showed that Alpine has made the right steps.
Now they can dream of bigger things in the years ahead.
