Interview
Sébastien Philippe: ART can fight back after tough start to 2024
2024 has not been the smoothest of seasons for reigning Champions ART Grand Prix. The French squad find themselves 10th in the Teams’ Standings after a tough opening three rounds of the campaign.
But, after some crucial track time at the in-season test in Barcelona, the clouds are beginning to part says Team Principal Sébastien Philippe, who says the team was able to regroup over the three-day event.
“It was good to at least understand the car a bit more because as we all know, we get the car for the three days of testing before the season and there’s a lot to understand,” he explained. “So, the three days in Barcelona were useful for everybody.
“But let’s wait and see. The season is very long, 11 races remain but it’s important from now that we score points regularly.”
Heading to Imola, the team has earned five points scoring finishes between Victor Martins and rookie Zak O’Sullivan, though they are yet to stand on the podium in 2024.
Some of that has been down to an initially difficult start to the year with regards to fully understanding the new F2 car, introduced this year and offering some form of a competitive reset of all the teams.
ART worked extensively during the Barcelona test to better get to grips with the 2024 car and to address the areas of concern that arose during the first races of the year.
Philippe says that the team learned a great deal, though it was a case of identifying and fixing many small details rather than one underlying issue that held them back to this point.
“I think it would be a lie if I said we were expecting to struggle as much as we have done. I was not thinking that things would be easy because we had a brand-new car to discover and that can be a gamble for everybody. Some teams went the right way, some teams did not.
“It’s never just one thing. When you are quick, it’s because everything is going together in the right way. We need to step up a little bit everywhere. The gaps are quite close, I think in the field there are many good drivers, and the small details make a big difference in the end.
“I think there’s a few things that we understand a bit better now, so the test was productive. There were things that we understood with the three days on track, but I’m sure everyone will be saying the same, so we’ll see.”
Following on from in-season testing, Imola will be the first chance for all the teams as they look to put what they’ve learned into practice after a break in the action.
"Small details can start to lose you a lot of time very quickly"
The ART team boss says that it will be hugely important to ensure it’s a smooth return for the team as they aim to bounce back around a circuit they won at with Théo Pourchaire on F2’s last visit.
Philippe also pointed out that despite their difficult start to ’24, the margins are closer than ever, using Qualifying in Sakhir as an example that they aren’t a world away from competitiveness.
READ MORE: FLASHBACK: Théo Pourchaire wins on F2’s last visit to Imola
“You need to optimise everything in every moment. If you look at Bahrain, we were less than two tenths off pole. But we have made some mistakes with race pace and on the day, things haven’t always gone our way, but I think looking at the global performance of the team, it’s much better than what the results suggest so far.
“It’s not good enough, that’s for sure, but it’s not like we’re two seconds off the pace either. So, it’s more about fine tuning and making sure we optimise each part of the weekend because small details can start to lose you a lot of time very quickly. But there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get back up there.”
For Martins and O’Sullivan, they will have been expecting more than what they’ve been able to achieve so far this season, though Philippe admitted that they have been facing a tough challenge based on how things have gone for ART so far.
Without a car they feel they can push to the limit, it has limited their impact in the Championship. The ART Team Principal says that following testing, that feeling is however beginning to change for both.
"The whole team is fully focused on winning races, that’s in the DNA of the team"
“What’s done is done, it’s behind us now so we need to learn from what went wrong but in terms of motivation, there’s no need to motivate ourselves anymore. The whole team is fully focused on winning races, that’s in the DNA of the team.
“The drivers – it’s a no brainer because they wouldn’t be here today if they didn’t want to succeed. So, motivation is not an issue, it’s more about bringing the confidence and the serenity back to the team and to work on getting results which will take care of that and generate some momentum.”
“I think they’re now better with the car. It’s always the same. You can’t expect a driver to be at their 100% if their car is not 100%, so I think our car was not very easy to drive and they hadn’t felt comfortable.
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“It’s difficult to extract 100% of what you have in that situation, but I think we have made a step in a lot of little areas.
“Barcelona is Barcelona, Imola is a different circuit and Monaco even more different. The weather could make a big difference. Let’s see as we get into the summer after a few more rounds and then afterwards we’ll have a better view. Right now though it’s important to focus on what we are doing rather than to be looking at what the others are doing.”
While it has been a tough start to the season, Philippe is pragmatic in his outlook acknowledging that there is still a long way to go in the season.
That should be plenty of time for his team to reaffirm themselves as front-runners, along with Martins and O’Sullivan.
Whether they turn out to be title contenders will remain to be seen, as Philippe believes that it could be a hotly-contested campaign with little to give away who might become Champion until the very end.
“I’m not sure there are a lot of drivers who have had a lot of consistency during the first three rounds. There have been ones that have been really quick one weekend and then the next, maybe not.
"I’m not sure what the real hierarchy is at the moment, it’s too early to say"
“You can take a look at the current order in the Championship, but I don’t see anyone who is really comfortable at the moment. So, I’m not sure what the real hierarchy is at the moment, it’s too early to say.
“In some year’s the fight goes to the very end, and I hope it’s like this this year. I think it will be competitive all season because there are many teams and drivers who have a very small window they can get into the window to fight.
“The fight will be very long, I’m sure that we will only really know who is in the fight much later into the year.”