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Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

Reading time 5 Min.

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

Photo credit: Alpine (Renault)

Aerodynamics play a central role in the development of a sports car like the Alpine A110. Science is taken to extremes by the flowing air in Formula 1, where testing in the wind tunnel has long since reached the highest level of complexity. For Pierre Sancinéna, aerodynamics engineer at Alpine, nothing was more obvious than entering into a partnership with his colleagues in the Alpine F1 Team in order to benefit from their methods and technologies.

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

Eliminating lift, minimizing aerodynamic drag and generating a precise level of downforce: Aerodynamics experts are responsible for “sticking” a Formula 1 racing car on the asphalt, driving it as fast as possible on the straight and rushing through corners at extreme speed In the premier class of motorsport, no effort is too high. In the chassis department of the Alpine F1 Team in Enstone, UK, around 120 engineers are constantly working on optimizing the air flow. The wind tunnel is of course one of the most important tools. Spoilers, deflectors, diffusers, side pods, wings, cooling ducts - the arrangement and shape of these and many other components is constantly being refined in order to further improve the performance of the racing car.

Productive partnership with Enstone

In Les Ulis, France, home of Alpine Cars, Pierre Sancinéna, aerodynamics expert at Alpine, is pursuing a very similar approach to his colleagues in Enstone. The aerodynamics engineer and equally ambitious and successful amateur racing driver * has been responsible for the aerodynamic development of the Alpine and Renault Sport models, including the A110 and the Mégane RS Trophy-R, for three years. For him, one thing is certain: "The wind tunnel is an indispensable tool when it comes to optimizing the aerodynamic properties of a sports car like the Alpine A110."

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

And because nobody is better positioned in this area than the teams in Formula 1, Sancinéna did not hesitate to ask his colleagues in Enstone for help. “Our collaboration began in March 2020,” he looks back. "We met every week to optimize our methods and CFD simulations and to implement the methodology of the Formula 1 team in our test work." The collaboration with the Alpine F1 team brought Pierre and his team a lot of specific know-how, what since then it has also been used for the development of future Alpine series models. Among other things, the correlation between the results obtained from computer simulations and from work in the wind tunnel could be improved. This saves a lot of time and money because double development steps are avoided and the time-consuming back and forth between CFD and wind tunnel is significantly reduced.

Detailed work with sensors like in an airplane and bright colors

In order to become really more efficient and to be able to optimize the development of individual vehicle components, however, more is required. Among other things, an A110 was shipped to Enstone in order to be equipped with an abundance of sensors by the aerodynamics specialists there. With this new type of instrument, even more data can be collected in order to record the pressures acting on the body and the flow of air around the vehicle. At the beginning of March, this extensively modified A110 test vehicle then dived deep into the stormy world of Formula 2 in the S1A wind tunnel in Montigny-le-Bretonneux.

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

On the front of the vehicle there was a wide metal grille that was derived directly from the construction that Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso drive on their A521 racing cars during free practice sessions at a Grand Prix weekend. The pressure sensors attached to it are similar to Pitot sensors for measuring the speed of aircraft and map the volume of air flowing through under the vehicle.

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

During these tests, the Alpine engineers also used Flow-Vis, a special color developed by their Formula 1 colleagues. Applied to the front hood and the fenders, it only spreads at a certain speed, thus allowing the air flows along the body to be traced in detail. This allows the computer calculations to be checked very clearly.

From the Formula 1 laboratories to the streets

The aerodynamics experts of the Alpine F1 Team not only support their colleagues from series development with hardware. From the Race Control room in Enstone, they were able to observe the test work in the French wind tunnel in real time and analyze the data obtained. The results obtained in this way are incorporated into the series development of future variants of the A110 and other models. In every Alpine series vehicle, there is always a good portion of Formula 1 with them.

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

ON THE WAY TO THE "24 HOURS OF LE MANS"

Pierre Sancinéna developed a passion for motorsport at an early age and began his karting career at the age of 15. After initial successes at regional level, he tried his hand at an ACO competition in Le Mans (ACO = Automobile Club de l'Ouest), which he finished second and thus secured a cockpit in the French Formula 2010 championship for the 4 season .

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

Successes and highlights

  • 2010: French Formula 4 championship
  • 2011: Third of the French F4 championship
  • 2012: Formula 3 European Championship
  • 2012, 2013, 2014: various uses in GT and prototype sport
  • 2015: French GT Junior Champion (Audi R8 GT3)
  • 2016: French Prototype championship in the LMP3 class
  • 2017: French GT4 Championship (Porsche Cayman GT4)
  • 2018: Champion of the Alpine Elf Europe Cup, winner of the GT4 World Cup, winner of several runs of the French. GT4 championship (both Alpine A110 GT4)
  • 2019: GT4 European Championship (Alpine A110 GT4)
  • 2020: Third in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup
  • 2021: European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class

Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

Don't worry, of course that was far from being the case when it came to auto / auto tuning. Our magazine still has tens of thousands other tuning reports in stock. Do you want to see them all? Then just click HERE and look around. Or are you particularly interested in everything to do with the French manufacturer Alpine? Then the following excerpt with other vehicles is definitely the right one.

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Alpine A110 gets a breath of fresh air from Formula 1!

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About Thomas Wachsmuth

Thomas Wachsmuth - He has been an integral part of tuningblog.eu since 2013. His passion for cars is so intense that he invests every available penny in them. While he dreams of a BMW E31 850CSI and a Hennessey 6x6 Ford F-150, he currently drives a rather inconspicuous BMW 540i (G31/LCI). His collection of books, magazines and brochures on the subject of car tuning has now reached such proportions that he himself has become a walking reference work for the tuning scene.  More about Thomas

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