F1 Round-Up: Alpine launches A524, Sauber adapts to gambling law and RB20 may be too conservative

Alpine launched their 2024 car, the A524.

The Alpine A524 broke cover at the team's Enstone base ahead of pre-season testing.

Maintaining their distinctive French blue, the latest creation from the Silverstone-based outfit retains an evolutionary approach to 2023's package as technical director Matt Harman bids to extract more performance.

Technical director Matt Harman says:

"We rigorously analyzed the key aerodynamic concepts that we wanted to move towards on this car to explore more aerodynamic freedom and better unlock these concepts to their full potential."

"We found with the A523 that it was operating within a very narrow window. This was a weakness as it meant we were limited on what we could exploit with the car and there were very specific characteristics on where it thrived and where it did not."

Sauber Goes Incognito to Skirt Gambling Laws

Sauber will again toggle between brand identities at certain Grand Prix this season to comply with local gambling legislation prohibiting their primary sponsor Stake's promotion, confirms team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi.

Where banned, Sauber will instead showcase Stake's sister company Kick on its chassis and race under the name "Kick Sauber F1 Team."

This flexible branding allows the squad greater commercial freedom while abiding by regional advertising regulations.

Alunni Bravi reveals that alternating names enabled "important additional partnerships" for Sauber in 2022.

With Stake's backing, the team is capitalizing on its transition years between engine suppliers to rebrand itself, evident in its vibrant new livery and London launch event brimming with influencers.

Exodus of Top Legal Talent from FIA

Two Formula 1 heavyweights of the FIA's legal team, governance and regulatory director Pierre Ketterer and head of commercial legal affairs Edward Floydd, are leaving the organization after playing pivotal roles negotiating the latest Concorde Agreement.

Ketterer additionally contributed to framing the FIA's COVID-induced protocols allowing F1's resurgence in 2020 and helped conceive the FIA's judicial procedures.

Citing wanderlust for "new challenges," Ketterer departs after 14 years to join the International Olympic Committee, eliciting president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's "bittersweet" regards.

Ketterer and Floydd add to an expanding list of recent high-profile FIA departures like technical heads Steve Nielsen and Tim Goss.

Sulayem maintains these are coincidental as part of the FIA's ongoing large-scale restructuring and points to multiple new executive appointments.

Red Bull Unsure if Staying the Course is Enough

Despite dominating 2022 in astonishing fashion, Red Bull fears complacency heading into 2023, unsure if iterating their proven design is sufficient to stay ahead, admits technical wizard Adrian Newey.

Dubbing their new RB20 a "third evolution" of their inaugural 2022 car, Newey explains they stuck to this conservative development route due to budget cap constraints.

Though initially expecting 2023 to entail "a lot of cars looking similar" to their own, Newey highlights mounting late-season challenges in 2022 indicating the field was closing up.

With rival teams likely exploring more radical concepts, Newey concedes Red Bull is unsure if standing pat with minor refinements is the right call.

Still, he considers their restrained methodology of honing an already dominant design "the prudent and correct decision."