Blue and pink, pink and blue: A look at the Alpine A522
A side view of the car as the Alpine A522 is launched. February 2022.
Pink has returned to the Formula 1 grid, with the BWT-sponsored Alpine A522 being unveiled to the world on Monday evening.
Alpine shared their new liveries on stage at a launch event in Paris, with their real car currently in Barcelona awaiting its first shakedown on Tuesday, before pre-season running begins the following day.
New team principal Otmar Szafnauer spoke on stage following his move from Aston Martin at the end of the season, with BWT also transferring their support to their midfield rivals of last season.
But with the change of regulations, Alpine’s place in the pecking order is currently anyone’s guess, having taken P5 in the Constructors’ Championship last year.
As with their sponsorship of Racing Point and Force India before that, BWT’s influence has seen pink added to the blue colour scheme seen last season in Alpine’s debut year on the grid.
While a show car was used at their launch event, pictures of the team’s race-ready car were shared on the team’s social media channels, which you can take a look at below:
Both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso will spend time behind the wheel of the A522 in Barcelona in three days of pre-season running this week, before heading to Bahrain for the official three-day pre-season test, the week before the season opener in Sakhir.
But there was a further surprise in store at the launch, as the team unveiled a second livery in a reverse colour scheme of their main challenger, predominantly in the pink of their title sponsors, which will be raced in the first two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia:
Seeing Ocon racing in pink again will be something of a throwback…
The team announced at their launch that they began work on the concept of the A522 back in 2019 (when the Enstone/Viry outfit were branded as Renault), with their product now having finally been unveiled, and it can show itself against its rivals.
Alfa Romeo are the only team to not yet release their new car, having completed their allotted shakedown in a camouflage livery.
Alpine sign up BWT as title sponsor
Alpine have announced BWT as their title sponsor for 2022.
