F1 News: Alpine hope to avoid further reliability issues

Reliability issues have plagued Alpine throughout the season, with the French squad failing to address its issues from the start of the year.

Engine-related problems have formed the bulk of these problems, but other operational mistakes have also proven costly in Alpine’s constructors’ battle this year.

Fernando Alonso has been affected especially badly by these issues, with his A522 coming to a halt in three of the last five races.

Speaking after the Mexican GP, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer admitted that reliability has been the team’s undoing this year.

“Fernando suffered a cylinder failure on lap 52, and he was having to manage on five cylinders – meaning a significant lack of power – to try and remain inside the points. 

“Eventually, the problem was not sustainable, and he had to retire the car. 

“Esteban faced a challenge with some cooling issues from quite early on in the race where he had to lift and coast and, therefore, he sacrificed great lap time. 

“He did well to bring the car home in eighth place and score some valuable points for the team. 

“We know reliability is going to be the key in our championship battle, and it’s something that has let us down after showing such a strong level of performance in recent races.”