Formula 1 for what it is, modern art: the Alpine A522 by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon was presented this Monday at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, at the Palais de Tokyo in the French capital, before hundreds of guests at one of those events that had stopped taking place due to the pandemic. the expectation, The plan, justifies the return of the protagonists to the stage and the necessary end of virtuality. Just a detail: the real A522 is already assembled in the Barcelona garage because this Tuesday he shoots on a filming day. The one in Paris is a model with the new colors, which are already bold on their own: the pink of BWT, main sponsor, splashes half of the car.
And not only that: in the first two Grands Prix of the season, Bahrain and Sakhir, it will exclusively wear pink in one decoration. Modern art, the kind that not everyone likes. But this is the Alpine that has been presiding over this imposing Parisian building for a few hours.
Interesting touches on the actual A522
Among the details of the shared photographs of the real car there are interesting notes. The pontoons are original, with Aston Martin or Ferrari style air intakes and narrow ends, not so in the central part of the car where the power unit is housed. The air intakes are relatively narrow and in the wings there are no big surprises after nine presentations and some other private filming. In any case, Alpine has taken risks, it has not made a white design. They have no choice.
In pink and blue, Alonso reappeared in the presentation. “2021 was a good season, Esteban won a race and I made a podium. We made a lot of progress, the team is stronger than a year ago and we are ready for the challenge,” said the Spaniard. A change for the sport the change of rules? “I hope, that’s why I came back.” As for boss Laurent Rossi: “We have to be realistic, the rule change can remake the grid and it’s an opportunity. In the meantime, progress, progress, progress.”
Statistics and goals beyond the plan
The ambition of the French manufacturer is great. They were fifth in the Constructors’ World Championship in 2021, with a victory for Ocon in Hungary and a third place for Alonso in Qatar. That explains well the qualities of this team in recent years: capable of much when the circumstances arise, but incapable of extracting the same benefits every weekend. There was a culprit, the engine, with hardly any developments since the winter of 2019, but the Renault engine can no longer be pointed out as a scapegoat, because the Viry plant promises around 35 horsepower improvement in its new power unit.
Alonso, 40 years old, before his 19th Formula 1 season, should become this year the driver with the most grand prizes in the history of the competition once he surpasses Raikkonen. He also aspires to the podium number 100, a brilliant statistic (he has 98), and, why not, to the 33rd victory that wakes up a dormant account since Spain 2013. He came back to win, and although it is excessive to expect Alpine to dispute titles in the short term against giants like Mercedes and Red Bull , or ahead of powerhouses like Ferrari, occasional wins shouldn’t be that far off if the A522 sits well under the new rules.
At his side, a grand prize winner, Ocon, 25 years old. And at the head of the project new faces, Otmar Szafnauer (main team) and Bruno Famin (CEO of Alpine Racing); familiar faces, Pat Fry (technical director); and bosses of everything, Luca de Meo (CEO of Renault) and Rossi (CEO of Alpine). In the hands, all of them, of the A522 that was presented this Monday in the French capital. Well, no. The one that is already in Barcelona.
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