Alpine launches new A523 F1 in London
Alpine ended the Formula 1 season by becoming the 10th and last team to reveal its 2023 car.
The Alpine A523 hit the track for the first time during a private test at Silverstone on Monday, but the French team waited until Thursday to reveal the car at an event in London.
The car carries with it the hopes of Esteban Ocon and new Alpine player Pierre Gasly, who replaced Fernando Alonso to create an all-French squad.
As was the case last year, the team has two kits for the season, one in blue and pink, and one in all pink from main sponsor BWT. The all-pink paintwork will run at the first three races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia before turning blue for the rest of the year.
Alpine beat McLaren to fourth place in last year’s championship standings, placing first among the rest behind F1’s three big teams, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer said the team’s goal this year is “a lot closer to third and a lot further away from fifth than it was before.”
Technical director Matt Harman said the team had set aggressive goals this year and made significant changes to a number of parts, including switching the rear suspension from a tow bar to a bar design. push.
He also revealed the A523 is below the new 796kg minimum weight limit, meaning Alpine engineers can use ballast to optimize the car’s weight distribution for each lap.
The A523 ran without any issues during a 100 km test run at Silverstone, running under F1’s promotional event rules.
The next time the car appears on the track will be in Bahrain for the start of pre-season testing on February 23.
Alpine also used the premiere to confirm Australian Formula 2 driver Jack Doohan as its reserve driver.