Alpine unveils 2023 F1 Challenger in London

Alpine continues to race the A523 in French Racing Blue and BWT Pink liveries, but also follows the recent trend of making parts of the car unpainted carbon fiber to save weight.

As with 2022, the team has also unveiled a second, predominantly pink livery that will be used for the first three races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Driver Esteban Ocon and newcomer Pierre Gasly, who joined from AlphaTauri, showed off a car that took advantage of the strengths of its predecessor, the A522.

Last year, Ocon and Fernando Alonso had a solid year for the French manufacturer, overtaking McLaren to finish fourth in the Constructors’ Championship behind top teams Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.

plus: How Alpine won the war to be the best of the rest of F1 in 2022

One of the most eye-catching changes to the A523 is the larger lateral section of the engine cover, also seen on the Mercedes W14. Technical His director Matt Herman revealed that Alpine changed from pull-rod to push-rod rear suspension. This is to reduce the weight of the car, improve airflow and make it easier for mechanics to service the rear he end.

Ocon and Gasly hope the A523 will prove more reliable than its predecessor, with a wave of retirements preventing the team from delivering better results in 2022.

With Ocon and Alonso retiring from seven races last season, the Spaniard bore the brunt of Alpine’s reliability problems, with Renault’s power unit proving its Achilles heel.

Alonso has since moved to Aston Martin and Ocon is currently in a French Open partnership with Gasly, who signed a multi-year deal with Alpine last October.

plus: Gasly’s revealing intentions in switch to Alpine are his F1 rivals to take note

French duo experience the A523 for the first time at the Silverstone shakedown on Mondayafter Ocon completed nine laps, Gasly took over and ran another eight laps until the team reached the 100km margin of the shooting day.

Alpine’s goal for 2023 is to continue its 100-race plan to win the World Championship, a roadmap it embarked on last year.

According to team principal Otmar Szafnauer, that means the team needs to keep showing progress and be “closer to third than fifth”.

“I need to be one step closer to the championship I wanted to do in 100 races,” he said.

“That 100 is [2022]So I’m under 80 from now on.

“We need to do the same, but we need to be closer to third than fifth. Even if we keep fourth, we have to move forward.”