After his farewell to Ferrari and his brief experience at McLaren, David Sanchez will be the Executive Technical Director of Alpine
May 2, 2024
David Sanchez said goodbye to Ferrari more than a year ago now to land in McLaren. However, at the end of his gardening period, the engineer occupied a role not befitting of what had previously been approved with Woking’s top brass when his contract was signed. So, after only a few weeks, Sanchez and McLaren have announced a consensual farewell between the parties. A new adventure is now upon us for the Frenchman who will take on the role of Alpine executive technical director.
Davis Sanchez will oversee the Enstone-based technical department and have overall responsibility for the team’s Performance, Engineering and Aerodynamics areas. It will thus manage the three key areas that fall within the three-pillar technical structure recently announced, with Ciaron Pilbeam (technical director – performance), Joe Burnell (technical director – engineering) e David Wheater (technical director – aerodynamics) everyone to report to him. Thus completing the technical triumvirate established by Bruno Faminfollowing the model used in McLaren by Zak Brown, following the resignations of Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer at the beginning of the season. The goal of this new hire by Alpine is to revive the fortunes of the A524a single-seater that is causing great difficulties Pierre Gasly and Esteban Oconwho are still struggling to reach Q2 and the points zone at the end of both the long races and the Sprints, still remaining stuck at 0 points after five events already held.
PFor David Sanchez this announcement is a return to his roots as he began his career in Formula 1 as a junior aerodynamicist for the Renault F1 Team in 2005, the same year the team won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships. After leaving Enstone, the French engineer worked for ten years at Ferrari first leading the aerodynamics department and later holding the role of Head of Vehicle Concept. The bracket in McLaren it lasted just a few weeks before Alpine’s announcement.
“I’m excited about this challenge at Alpine. I look forward to working at Enstone again, the place where I started my Formula 1 career” he has declared David Sanchez. “This team has always had so many great people involved and there is clearly so much potential to unlock. We have a big task ahead of us to improve performance on the track and it is this type of challenge that motivates me. I am very ready to get started and look forward to working with the technical teams at Enstone-Viry again with the sole aim of bringing regular success back to this great team.”
“I am delighted to welcome David back to Enstone, where he began his career in 2005,” he added Bruno Famin. “This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimizing everything we do as a team and focusing on the right areas of performance. It is clear that the car’s performance and development path has not moved at a sufficient pace relative to our team ambitions. We look forward to welcoming David and working hard together to achieve ultimate success.”
