Just two days before the start of the 2022 Formula 1 preseason, and as the penultimate team to show its new colors, Alpine presented the A522 , Alonso and Ocon ‘s car for the new season, from France this Monday.
The great intrigue of the new car was how the French team would combine the pink color of its new sponsor, BWT, after the agreement reached between the two firms. But despite the fact that this water treatment company had completely dyed Racing Point (its previous partner), Alonso and Ocon’s car will finally be predominantly electric blue with pink on the front wing, sidepods and rear wing.
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
However, then they surprised with another news, they will compete with another all-pink design in the first two races!
For the A522, Alpine has opted for a push-rod suspension at the front , and a pull-rod at the rear. The nose is higher in relation to the front wing than on some of its rivals’ cars, and it features very narrow inlets on the sidepods, which have cooling gills (scales), a feature that has also been adopted by others such as Ferrari or Aston Martin.
The A522 will be the car of Fernando Alonso’s 19th season in Formula 1, Alpine’s second after the entry of that brand into F1 in 2021. The Spaniard returned to the top category last year after two years shining in other disciplines, with the mind set on the regulation that opens this year.
Next to him will be Esteban Ocon for the second year. The Frenchman is contesting his sixth year in F1, the third in a row with the Renault/Alpine formation. In August 2021 he achieved his best result with victory at the Hungarian GP, the only victory for a team that last year was fifth in the constructors’ championship after beating AlphaTauri, but far behind other rivals in the middle zone such as McLaren or Ferrari.
Since the end of the world past, Alpine has undergone a complete restructuring under the mandate of its CEO Laurent Rossi.
They have abandoned the triumvirate of directors they had in 2021, with former Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer set to be chief director, while former FIA manager Bruno Famin will help run Renault’s engine division at Viry. -Chatillon.
In addition, in recent months its executive director, Marcin Budkowski, has left the team, director Alain Prost has not been renewed and, in addition to removing Davide Brivio from the F1 program, there has also been a reorganization of its technical team, where Pat Fry becomes Technical chief, and his technical director position is inherited by Matt Harman .
The Alpine A522 will make its debut on the track with a shakedown this Tuesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya . With the blue single-seater, all that remains to be seen is the final decoration of the Alfa Romeo, which we have only seen on the track in camouflage.
