Throughout the years, co-ordinating operations between the power unit facility at Viry and the chassis factory at Enstone has never been easy.
When you consider the other two major manufacturers, Ferrari is housed on one site at Maranello, whilst for Mercedes, its Brackley and Brixworth plants are only a few miles apart.
With modern technology, of course, distance should not be difficult for technical collaboration to exist, and ultimately to deliver results.
But the synergy between the two departments has often proven problematic, and so it has continued in the team’s latest guise as Alpine.
In his role as boss of the Alpine F1 team, Famin knows he has to achieve what has often been a struggle in the past, and that is Viry and Enstone to become one cohesive entity.
“To be performant at such a level of competition (as F1) you need to use the potential of everybody, and you need to align the planets,” said Famin.
“We need to be good in extracting the performance of the car, we need to be good in developing the car, in developing the engine.
“It’s been said we don’t have the best engine, we don’t have the best car, but again, I think we can align the planets to have a very good car at the end of the story, and to have good results.
“And the work now is to align those planets. Of course, there is a problem with the potential for improvement in the relationship between Viry and Enstone. To me, it’s a small part of the project, of the work we need to do.
“What we need to do is make sure the people are working well together, and we can extract the best from everyone, whatever their nationality, wherever they are working.
“Let’s all push together and let’s free the energy, the creativity of everybody in terms of techniques and processes.”
As to how long it will take Famin and the rest of the management team to finally get Viry and Enstone aligned and pulling in the same direction, he cannot determine.
“I have no idea how long it will take, and I don’t want to fix a target that will not be met,” said Famin, when asked by Speedcafe.
Insisting the short-term objective was to “develop the attitude, the mindset, changing the culture”, he added: “It’s not Viry against Enstone.
“It’s the whole thing, altogether, to continue to develop the momentum in order to make a better team, a better company, and to be able to develop a better car and then the results will come.
“How long it will take? I have no clue but the sooner the better, and I will do my best, with all my colleagues, to develop that at both Viry and Enstone.”
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