Alpine’s new F1 floor “overperformed” amid Baku disaster

Alpine brought a substantial upgrade package with a new floor to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but its plan backfired spectacularly at F1’s first sprint weekend of the 2023 season.

With just a single 60-minute practice to get the tweaked car set up, both Alpines hit trouble as Pierre Gasly’s car caught fire due to a hydraulic leak after just completing seven laps while Esteban Ocon was restricted to eight laps with a gearbox issue.

Gasly then crashed in qualifying, while…