I’m Matt Harman, Technical Director of BWT Alpine F1 Team, AMA!

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial]

As Technical Director, I take responsibility for delivering performance and experiments to the track, structuring the technical organisation and processes, plus growing talents and teams. I joined the team in September 2018 as Deputy Chief Designer before moving to Engineering Director. I have 18 years of experience in powertrain and overall race vehicle engineering. Ask me Anything!

[u/Blanchimont]

This AMA has been verified by the mods

[u/modena1983]

What metrics do you look at to determine you guys are down 30hp? Who seems to have the most power based on this same metric?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/modena1983]

I mean, we have a particularly good process for understanding that in conjunction between ourselves at Viry and Enstone. We have to look at our competitive position. We essentially use some analysis that looks at the acceleration of the car and corrects it for certain aspects and along the lines of the weight of the car and some other things that allows us to quite accurately understand where the power deltas are to our competition. In terms of who's best, it's quite a close field at the top. As is reasonably well publicised, we are slightly behind on the power side. But, it's something that we're working on quite carefully and quite cleverly, to try and bridge that gap and also using techniques on the chassis to try and help with that as well. So, it's a real team effort, and we'll continue to do that.

[u/Blanchimont]

Hi Matt -- Thanks for stopping by. I see a lot of people, some with champagne glasses in your AMA verification picture. Is that a belated party to celebrate Pierre's Zandvoort podium or are you perhaps celebrating the arrival of someone else, i.e. a new team principal? 👀

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/Blanchimont]

This is a great question. No, it was definitely our celebration for our Zandvoort P3. It was fantastic to see the whole team there with the trophy and we had some information from the drivers. They gave us a great feedback video. They couldn't be there because they were busy in our simulator at the time. But, it was a really nice moment for the team and it's something we try to do and everybody enjoys a glass of fizz, which is very nice.

[u/ryokevry]

What is the reason of your struggle in Monza other than PU deficit?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/ryokevry]

In Monza, I can say that we didn't expect to be as performant as we have been previously in Monza. Although the performance that we did have was as below our expectations.

So at the moment, as it stands right now, there's a huge body of work in the team to understand that. When we have performances like that, it inspires us to learn. We're looking at that at the moment and, we do have a PU deficit. But it's not everything, and there are lots of handles and levers that we can use with the car to try and offset and have a better performance.

To be quite honest, I don't think we've done quite a good enough job of that at this Monza race and we're going to learn from that. We're going to highlight the areas of change. We're going to check that we've got those covered for next year's car, but also we're going to try some things towards the end of the year at tracks that are not the same as Monza but maybe similar. So expect to see a few upgrades and some some development options maybe on Friday there.

[u/otomotopia]

Hi Matt! This is super exciting. What's one part that a layperson wouldn't even think of that has a major impact on performance? I saw one team showing everything that went into a single bolt and my mind was absolutely blown.

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/otomotopia]

Okay, so there's quite a lot of examples of that on the car. There's a lot of effort that goes into every single component of our race car. One thing in particular that's quite interesting is on the exhaust system and the tailpipe of the car.

It's really important that we that we optimise not just the fundamental power from the engine but also the way it interacts with the aerodynamics of the car, and the exhaust primary so the bits that connect directly to the power unit, but also the power of the tailpipe, which connects to the turbine of the power unit. It's really important that we deal with those quite carefully in terms of the pressure loss that we see through the thermodynamic installation of them because you need to make sure that, in essence, you don't burn the car down, which would be a bad thing. But, also that you maintain the energy in the exhaust and you want to make sure that you transmit that energy from one side or the other, but also maintaining the reliability of the exhaust. By regulation, we only have so many sets per year that we can use before we take a penalty. So we have to be very, very careful about how we engineer that. Also on the tailpipe the pressure drop of that exhaust is directly proportional to the performance of the engine as well and also, how some of the recovery aspects of the MGUH system. So it's really important there too, that we optimise that.

But, then that tailpipe interacts with the suspension, it interacts with the cooling system, it interacts with the bodywork. So, we spend an awful lot of time routing that and if you have a chance to see some of the pictures with bodywork removed, you'll see some of the rather funky shapes of the tailpipes that we see they're not typical to a tailpipe that you'd see coming out of your road car.

[u/leedler]

Hi Matt! Simple enough, but what’s it really like getting that first call from an F1 team, realising you have made it to that tight knit circus?

Also related, what’s the process of switching between teams like? Is it tough or does it feel natural enough?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/leedler]

Okay. That's a great question.

I started as a junior engineer, as a graduate engineer back in 2000. And I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be in an environment environment where you can have an idea on a Monday and you can be racing it on the Friday. I think that's something that inspires a lot of the engineers that work in the team.

For me, I was so excited to be given the opportunity to be able to use what I'd learned, all of my engineering understanding, and be able to apply it on something so sharp as a Formula 1 team. The people I've worked with, the people that have inspired me and the things that I've learned in my 22, 23 years, which is amazing. It's been that long. But, it's been absolutely amazing.

Also the process of switching. Well, interesting. I did switch. I spent many, many years at Mercedes and then I moved to this team in Alpine, and in that switch it was around about a year for me where I had to leave the sport and be at home whilst I forgot everything I knew at Mercedes and tried to re-learn everything I needed to learn for this team. Having been in the sport for that many years, it was actually quite challenging to not be looking at data or seeing the output from the races, seeing the output from the tests and working with people like myself to try and push forward.

So, I had to spend all my efforts focusing on my garden and my new house project that I had at the time, and that's how I kept myself going and waited for my time to arrive at the team.

[u/Eunos-Roadster]

Hey Matt! Thanks for doing this!

In this current era of F1 what are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to bringing upgrades to the cars throughout the season? And do you see Alpine being more competitive in the coming races?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/Eunos-Roadster]

This is a great question because it is a Herculean effort by the teams, at Viry and Enstone to try and ensure that we keep a consistent but accurate throughput of upgrades.

You'll be aware that we have our financial regulations and the cost cap that comes with that and it's really important to us that we select optimally what upgrades we put on the car, but also when they're delivered, they deliver in terms of lap time or in or in mass, which is ultimately lap time.

Some of the challenges are broader than that though. We've always got a number of car programmes around us at all times. We always have what we call the end car, which is the car we're currently running. So the A523. We have the N plus 1 car which is next year's car. And then we'll also have a future car which you know, we're already starting to look through simulations and concept for the 2026 regulation car. Of course, we've already started some PU work there as we look to improve the PU for 26 under those regulations. So there is big challenges in managing the resources.

We're a large team, we've got a lot of resources, but we also want to do a lot of things. So, it challenges our engineers to to make sure that we are always working on the right thing at the right time. As I sit here right now, there's an office full of people behind me that are currently looking at the next set of upgrades which, I'll let you know when they're coming later.

[u/Alfus]

Hello Matt, amazing to see you doing an AMA here!

I really want to ask about the current car (the A523). One of the prime goals of the A523 was to having a wide optimal working window with it, however more recently we did hear sounds that the A523 has a very small operating window, how there is a huge difference between what was predicted/expected based on data and what we do reading now a few months later?

Also, can you tell us what TD029 ever was? I know that this TD solely exist because of McLaren needed to adjust it's car for it early this season but no media outlet ever told what was in that TD.

Cheers and despite this season has it's struggles let's hope that things get better next year.

Edit: typo

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/Alfus]

Okay, so it's always our target really to try and widen the operating window because that gives us more opportunities in setup of the car and gives us a car that is more broader in terms of all the different types of races whether it be low downforce, high downforce all different types.

It's a very complex subject, one which we deal with based on the way we develop the aerodynamics of the car, the way we deal with the mechanical balance of the car, where we run the car in terms of ride height is contributing into that. So what can happen is, is that as you find performance, and you find more and more performance, you can find yourself not widening the window but actually making the window more focused.

But we keep an eye on that and we use weightings within the wind tunnel to try and maintain some level of window. What has happened on the A523 is we started off with a reasonable window but that has actually narrowed over time. So now we're looking at trying to widen that window again, and make sure that we can we can run the car optimally everywhere, but also achieve good ride and good characteristics in terms of the cars handling.

[u/RumBlaze]

Hey Matt! Thanks for doing this AMA.

We have seen this season that the pecking order has wildly changed as the season has gone on, whether it be due to large upgrade packages from some teams, or certain track characteristics that suit a particular car. With all this variation, does a team adjust their development targets according to the competition? Or do they focus only on their own weaknesses and improving them?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/RumBlaze]

Yeah, I mean, we do both. We have a very, very clear set of targets that we set for ourselves in terms of lap time and progression through the development phases. We are always flat out looking at what we do you know, and we don't.

We don't work 50% pace or 80% pace. We're always working well over 100% and I think, that means that what we do is, we're always making sure that we've understood the characteristics of our car and what characteristics are being designed and developed elsewhere with our competition.

Also making sure that we're always adapting that making sure that the developments that we bring to the car support our own development targets, but also moving us in a direction that will keep us performing moving forward. And that's something that in 2022, we were very successful at. I think this year, we've managed to put a lot of performance on the car, but I think we need to revaluate that and have a look at how we progressed through the season, and how we evaluate others performance and what we do to react to that. I think that's all part of our learning as a team and all part of our ability to move forward and be at the sharp end.

[u/K1ngmak3r]

Hello Matt,

Would you be able to explain the dramatic variations in performance between the Dutch and the Italian GP? When can we expect a consistent showing from Alpine? Keep up the good work and thanks!

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/K1ngmak3r]

Thanks for support. The performance variations between the Dutch and the Italian GP are mainly down to the characteristics of the circuit.

The Zandvoort Grand Prix has a little bit more downforce than the Italian Grand Prix. There's a little bit of a different sensitivity in terms of certain aspects of the car. That's why you've seen those differences.

In the Dutch Grand Prix, I don't think we qualified particularly well, but I think the qualifying position allowed us to take a certain approach during the race and we won from that.

And during the race, it was impressive, our race pace on the dry tyre in certain phases in there was very, very competitive and we were able to hold pace or even gain on some of the cars that we aspire to be in the future. So that was incredibly positive.

[u/BadlyWordedOpinions]

Hi Matt,

Just how difficult is it to align the workforces of both Enstone and Viry? What kind of challenges does having an engine and chassis development in different countries bring?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/BadlyWordedOpinions]

It's a good question because I think I've operated in teams with where we're not in different countries and I've operated in teams where we are, and I think it's more about removing the geography from the discussion.

We need to set up, and we have, set up organisations that are very mirrored with very, very clear responsibilities and specialists that talk directly together. I don't believe in conduits between these two, I think we need to make sure that everybody is linked, and they talk the same language they had the same empowered approach and the same responsibility to make change and, and for us at the moment that that's really working.

We're always travelling between sites. We have big groups of people coming over and then vice versa. We don't just rely on Microsoft Teams to bring our collaborations together. It's a people-based sport. And we've really invested in making sure that people have relationships across the channel, and actually will go far and beyond to help each other out and to make sure that we achieved the best integration of these systems into the race car.

[u/kinterdonato]

Hey Matt,

Big fan of Alpine F1 since the Renault days. What would you say is the biggest thing Alpine brings to F1 as it's only French Constructor?

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/kinterdonato]

I think it brings a lot to F1.

I think we take what we do very seriously but not too seriously. I think we try and make sure that that we're enjoying our engineering and we're enjoying what we do. We try and work incredibly collaboratively with everybody in every part of BWT Alpine F1 Team whether it be in the cost division or with Viry and Enstone and I think that brings a nice feel to the team and I hope that comes across in the way we appear at the circuit.

I think our drivers are playful as well - they're great guys. I think they're doing a good job of helping us move forward, and I hope that at some point in time I can respond to you, telling you that we're going to start converging on a Constructors’ Championship.

[u/TheThunderOfYourLife]

We’d love to see you over at r/matt, fellow Matt.

Joking aside, what was your mind going through on Gasly’s podium? That was a mega drive from him! It must be awesome to engineer a car that gets podiums in F1.

[u/AlpineF1TeamOfficial → u/TheThunderOfYourLife]

It's awesome to engineer a Formula 1 car, full stop. But it’s also massively rewarding to see the car and deliver in those positions and seeing the drivers’ response and how that is in the team and seeing the response with the trackside team in the moment.

But, also seeing the response back at the factor. All that hard work and effort. It's a lifestyle, we put an awful lot of our time and effort into these cars and when you see them deliver to that on the world stage, that it's just so rewarding.

For me personally, as I arrive in the factory on a Monday morning after achieving something like that, it's just great to walk through the factory and see people chatting, see them laughing, joking, see them shaking each other's hands. I think it’s great and that just shows how much it means to people that we that we do well and we move forward.