Alpine Formula 1 team announce date of London launch for 2023 challenger

Planet Sport writer
5 January 2023

Alpine have announced they will be launching their 2023 car in London on Thursday 16 February, and confirmed their new chassis will be called the A523.

Alpine are the fourth team to formally confirm their launch plans for their 2023 Formula 1 car, following in the wake of Aston Martin, Ferrari and AlphaTauri.

The A523 name follows the previous naming convention of the car's predecessors, the A521 and A522, and the all-French line-up of Esteban Ocon and new team-mate Pierre Gasly will head to Britain's capital city to formally unveil their new challenger.

The team will head into the 2023 season off the back of finishing fourth in the Constructors' Championship last year, gradually reeling in a gap to McLaren before overhauling their main midfield rivals to take an extra place in the standings which is worth a significant amount of prize money.

Alpine are also heading into their third year under their current moniker after their rebrand from Renault, to reflect the sporting arm of the French manufacturer.

The Ocon-Gasly driver partnership will create a true French 'national' team feel on the grid in 2023, with the ex-AlphaTauri driver having moved across to the team on a multi-year contract following Fernando Alonso's departure for Aston Martin, and former Alpine junior Oscar Piastri having already agreed to move to McLaren for the year ahead.

The teams' launches will be shortly followed by three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, due to take place from 23-25 February, before the new season begins at the same circuit the following weekend, from 3-5 March.