Pat Fry is an experienced technician, used to being very pragmatic. The British engineer (previously at McLaren, Ferrari and Manor) is not used to jumping into the dark, but is famous for always looking for interesting but not extreme solutions.
The Alpine A522, which we met this Monday afternoon, is the practical representation of that concept. The single-seater conceived at Enstone is perhaps, among all those revealed so far, the most compact in terms of wheelbase, although it would not be entirely accurate to define it as short-wheelbase.
The Alpine A522: the shortest car in F1 2022?
The new Alpine, at least the version presented, does not reach the maximum 3,600 mm wheelbase allowed by the regulations for two interesting reasons: first, it tried to contain the weight (there are few F1 2022 that reach the minimum of 795 kg); and second, it has focused on a very flexible project that can be adapted to any development possibility in both short and long versions.
On a chromatic level, the arrival of BWT as main sponsor did not ruin the beautiful blue decoration that we were used to with the Alpine: the addition of pink and white does not make the car ugly, not even knowing that the Bahrain GP and the GP from Saudi Arabia will dispute it with the version shown in Paris, totally pink in honor of the sponsor BWT.
The pink Alpine A522 for the first two races
Alpine A522: compressor separate from turbo
The Enstone-built car benefits from the new Renault engine which has separated the supercharger from the turbo, choosing a supercharger setup similar to Mercedes and Honda .
The supercharger is mounted on the body side, while the turbo has been kept close to the gearbox: that change has allowed for greater integration between the chassis and the power unit, with revolutionary packaging that has reduced dimensions of the hood compared to the previous year, which was very inefficient aerodynamically. The engine’s airbox, on the other hand, is a Mercedes-like concept, with three lobes, although the exterior design is almost square with rounded edges.
Alpine A522: anteater-style nose
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon’s A522 looks like a very sensible single-seater, perhaps without frills, but very concrete and logical. The nose is shaped like an anteater: it curves down and protrudes slightly from the second fin, while the main profile shows a slight spoon shape in the central part: as in the Ferrari and Mercedes , the chord of the four elements is it decreases as you go up the wing ramps. On the edge closest to the trapezoidal endplate, you can see the channel that serves to carry air to the outside of the front wheel. On the outside of the strip is the usual S-shaped bib.
Alpine A522: push-rod front suspension
The front suspension of the Alpine A522 the push-rod scheme (push rods): the most relevant thing is that the upper triangle is quite inclined backwards, confirming the theory of the somewhat shorter wheelbase, while the steering arm is slightly more forward and placed a little lower to generate that certain blow that everyone is looking for. The two triangles are further apart than on other single-seaters.
Alpine A522: mix of ideas on the sides of the car
The mouth of the pontoons is placed high, since the side reaches the waist of the passenger compartment: it has a design similar to that of the Ferrari but the pink color makes it look like the lips of a mouth with lipstick. There are gills above the sidepods to draw hot air from the radiators, but the ramp down to the bottom is longer and more conspicuous than what we saw on the AlphaTauri AT03.
Underneath the sidepod there is no real double bottom, but the air that is carried under the radiator intake and over the Venturi channel, is directed downwards to be pushed out of the rear wheel.
Alpine A522: two rows of gills or scales
Behind the junction of the Halo to the chassis is the continuation of the body width of the passenger compartment which extends to the rear suspension: on the curvilinear edge there are a further eight gills to dissipate heat from the radiating masses still above the Renault engine. . If the root of the engine hood is quite generously sized, the same cannot be said for the top of the engine cover which has only a hint of vertical drift in the tail.
Alpine A522: pull-rod rear suspension
The rear suspension has been completely redesigned, although the drawing of the handles has been maintained: the lower triangle is very open towards the engine, while the upper one is narrower. The tie rod pivots towards the transmission case as if the rear kinematics had been placed beyond the gearbox.
The new Alpine has moved to a single pylon as a mount for the rear wing – the gooseneck also allows DRS control to be integrated into the design. The rear wing shows a flat main profile, crowned by a mobile fin equipped with a nolder.
Will the A522 be able to give the Enstone team another win after Esteban Ocon’s lucky win at the 2021 Hungarian GP? The pre-season tests in Barcelona will have to clarify what the ambitions of the French brand will be, which places itself far from the world championship, but aspires to improve its fifth place in the constructors’ world championship…
