BWT Alpine F1 Team Reveals Its 2022 A522 Contender

The BWT Alpine F1 Team revealed its contender for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship today in what is now the Renault Group hometown, Paris. That’s France not Texas. During 2022, Alpine remains active in motorsports with a presence at Formula 1, the Hypercar class, the FIA R-GT and other competitions such as the Alpine Elf Europa Cup. With regulations changing for the new Formula One season, the Alpine F1 Team plans to channel the encouraging initial results from the Alonso‑Ocon pairing in 2021. (AutoInformed: Renault Sport Cars Becomes Alpine Cars; Alpine 2021 – Year One Sales Increase on a Minuscule Base)

Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi showed the A522 prior to what is, arguably – turbo era?, the largest change in regulations in Formula 1’s 72-year history The A522 livery is a combination of the historic blue of Alpine and pink hues of title partner BWT. Luca de Meo and Laurent Rossi were joined on stage by new Formula 1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer.

The team confirmed single race winner Esteban Ocon and two-time World Drivers’ Champion Fernando Alonso will drive for a second consecutive season. Oscar Piastri is the team’s Reserve Driver in 2022 after his Formula 2 title last year and subsequent ascension from the Alpine Academy. (Esteban Ocon joins Renault F1 Team. Nico Hulkenberg?)

The technical teams at Enstone will continue to be led by the recently promoted and experienced duo of Pat Fry, Chief Technical Officer, and Matt Harman, the new team’s Technical Director. Across the channel (I guess the “Fog in channel, Continent Isolated” days are over) in Viry-Châtillon, the team has recently appointed Bruno Famin as Executive Director of Alpine Racing, who it’s hope will maximize engine performance and integration into the chassis.

Staff in both factories have worked non-stop for the past 18 months – as have the competitors – to create the A522 against the backdrop of the regulation changes introduced for the 2022 campaign. (AutoInformed: Aston Martin’s Next Formula One car – AMR22 – Revealed) The Team says that collaboration between the two bases has been key in bringing the A522 to life. Alongside a completely new chassis and car build, the team has an all-new RE22 power unit, marking yet another chapter in the French car manufacturer’s renowned heritage in Formula 1. The engine specification and packaging the team claims gives it extra freedom in shaping the rest of the car to exploit the latest technical regulations and adjust for the new fuel specification, E10, as the next step to sustainable fuels in Formula 1.

“It’s good to be back and I’ve been working hard to be ready for the new season. The build-up has been a long time coming after the rule change was delayed due to the pandemic. The car looks fantastic with the new regulations in place and I like the new livery,” said Fernando Alonso. “We have a new engine and we’re confident we had a good development in place for this new generation of car. We won’t know where everyone stands until Bahrain, but we’re excited to take the car for its first spin in testing this week. I hope the new regulations have worked and we get more exciting wheel to wheel racing this year,” said Alonso. That’s also the hope most F1 fans.