Alpine surprised to be at the back of the F1 grid

This revelation further cemented their decision to overhaul the technical structure within the team.

Alpine had anticipated a subdued start to the season due to a late concept change, resulting in a slower development pace compared to their competitors during the winter break. 

However, Famin admitted that the extent of their struggles in Bahrain was unexpected, with Alpine lagging behind as the slowest team on the grid, a position they maintained in Saudi Arabia as well.

Following the departures of tech director Matt Harman and head of aero Dirk de Beer, the poor performance at the beginning of the season prompted Alpine's leadership to take decisive action. 

They opted to reorganize the technical team, taking inspiration from McLaren's successful structure, which involves technical directors focusing on aerodynamics, engineering, and performance.

"It was a shock because we were really expecting a difficult start of the season, we knew this, and this is what we said during the launch of our car," said Famin.

"But to be on the last row in the qualifying was a shock, to be honest. And it just confirmed the need of changing in our team, and we made the change.

"We really want to bring to the factories what we have done trackside by the end of the last season. I mean, changing the mindset, unleashing the creativity and having three technical directors makes the organisation much more horizontal, much less vertical.

"More activity, more agility, and really the motto is really to develop our people."