Alpine is the penultimate of the teams that will participate in the 2022/23 season to unveil its car. Or rather, the double single-seater, given that the A522 (the name given to the model by Alpine) will in fact be offered with two liveries. As has not happened for several years, Enstone’s team will present itself on the starting grid with an “almost” 100% blue version and a second, “almost” 100% pink version.
The pink livery of the Alpine A522, one version due to the arrival of the BWT sponsorleaves room for only a small touch of blue on the sides, and will be used for the first two Grands Prix, then leaving the baton to the blue livery for the rest of the races.
Alpine A522 in “pink” version
As explained by Luca de Meo, Renault Group CEO : “We are the team that defends the colors of the French flag and now we will be ‘La Vie en Rose’ with our new sponsor, BWT. Can’t wait for the season to start. The team did a great job, even if the starting point is not what we expected. Last year we were fifth, we had a good season and we want to keep progressing. There is a spirit of improvement and a team spirit, as we saw last year when Alonso embraced Ocon in Hungary “.
Alpine A522, light blue or pink is definitely an elegant car
The thin nose hooks onto the first of the front wing flaps, as is the case on the McLaren. The main blade is on top and is therefore free to the wind. The small upper flap strikes. The sidepods fall gently to the ground at the height of the roll bar like a large step. They are strongly undercut in the front area, like the Red Bull. The narrow cooling vents resemble those of the Ferrari. Alpine lets the hot cooling air escape through two levels of gills: one flat on the side panels, the other vertically in the engine hood.
Technical director Harman sees special significance in sidepods. “Without the deflectors behind the front wheels, the shape of the sidepods takes on a new meaning. Now they determine the flow to the rear “. The extreme shape of the sidepod offers a good view of the six tunnels of the front diffuser. The edge of the base plate rises slightly by 30 centimeters.
Under the still sturdy airbox, A completely new Renault engine is installed. After a year off, Viry-Châtillon’s engineers had to recover two stages of development from the competition. Last year the power deficit was 35 hp. The result of two years of work is a new architecture of the French V6 turbo. The turbine and compressor are now separate as in Mercedes. The MGU-K and MGU-H of the RS20 engine have also been completely redesigned.
At the wheel of the French car are confirmed Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon who commented on the new A522 as follows:
“Of course I’m very excited when I see the A522, but I’m even more excited about driving it for the first time this week – Ocon explains. “It is always a privilege to get behind the wheel of a new F1 as you know all the work that has been done behind the scenes by all the talented people from our different departments in Enstone and Viry-Châtillon. This feeling and responsibility is truly unique and special. I’m ready, I feel physically fit, so get on track to see what we can achieve this year! “
Fernando Alonso
“It’s good to be back and I’ve been working hard to get ready for this season. There have been a lot of expectations with the regulatory revolution being delayed due to the pandemic. The car looks great with these new regulations and I like the new livery – Fernando Alonso said. “We have a new engine and are confident that we have good developments taking place for this new generation. We won’t know the hierarchy before Bahrain, but we can’t wait to do our first laps with the A522 this week in testing. I hope that the new regulation will reach its goal with increasingly competitive and exciting races this year ”.