Just like McLaren and Aston Martin, Alpine is preparing to unveil its new race car in a few days. French drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had the opportunity to verify that everything was working correctly during a limited 100-kilometer shakedown with demonstration tires, while waiting for the unveiling.<\/p>\n
“It’s only when you get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car that you realize how much you miss it,” commented Esteban Ocon enthusiastically.<\/p>\n
It was an honor to driver the A523 today and witness with my own eyes all the work done and improvements made. I want to extend a huge thank you to all the women and men at Viry and Enstone for this step that allowed us to see the car on track for the first time. The first lap is always memorable and I am glad that the day went well.<\/p>\n
On his part, Pierre Gasly, now in his new colors with Alpine, found it fantastic.<\/p>\n
Today, it was about getting a first idea of the car and I felt extremely good during my laps. I know the whole team has worked tirelessly to develop the car over the winter, and it was a proud moment to drive it, seeing all those faces in the garage. I can’t wait for Thursday’s presentation and to discover it even more during the tests.<\/p>\n
Matt Harman, technical director at Alpine, concludes: \u00ab Today marked a new milestone for the A523 with our shakedown at Silverstone and I am thrilled that the day went so well. \u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00ab Esteban was the first to work to check the proper functioning of all systems and complete the classic installation program. Pierre took over in the afternoon for his first laps with the A523 and completed eight consistent loops to get a first idea of his new environment. These days are of course limited and not representative [editor’s note: of performance], but we certainly had an excellent Monday. We are now eagerly awaiting the tests in Bahrain, where we hope to continue learning about our car for 2023. \u00bb<\/p>\n
While waiting for the official unveiling of the new Alpine in a few days, some photos and videos give us a closer look at the A523.<\/a><\/p>\n Better picture of the Alpine A523 from today’s shakedown in silverstone pic.twitter.com\/4BCabJK9WA<\/a><\/p>\n\n