Formula 1
F1 tech: How Alpine has improved Formula 1's most updated car
Alpine made a name for itself in Formula 1 last season when it unleashed a near season-long upgrade push on its A522 car.
Matt Somerfield
Edited: Feb 18, 2023, 5:13 PM
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But despite not holding back in bringing as many developments as it could, the French car manufacturer has found room to make some pretty big changes for this season's A523.
The 2023 challenger features a revised nose and front wing package, with Alpine deciding to dabble with an idea that rivals have abandoned.
The raised nose tip arrangement was used by both Aston Martin and AlphaTauri last season. And whilst the former persevered with its version until the end of the campaign, AlphaTauri had given up by the Japanese GP.
That's not to say that the raised-tip solution is unworkable, as Alpine has clearly seen potential beyond its old layout, because the changes made to the new car require the front wing to be set a little higher in the mid-section.
Alpine A523 nose comparison
Photo by: Alpine
As always, it comes down not only to how much performance can be found right out of the blocks, but also how much more performance the team can expect to find further down the line too.
As technical director, Matt Harman explained: "It's really, really important. Obviously, the shorter the nose, the more difficult it is to get it through the homologation process.
"But it's also important that we ensure that the way we connect the beam wing of the front wing to the nose gives us the maximum opportunity for development.
"Depending on what element you choose to connect to, it can limit your development on the front wing. So we've been quite aggressive there and given ourselves quite a lot of modularity. You'll probably see quite a bit of differences on our front wings as we transition through the year."
In Alpine's case, the tip of the nose runs right down to the leading edge of the mainplane, rather than being mounted just behind it, like its predecessor.
This has also led to some cosmetic surgery to the shape of the nose, with the bridge being flattened out.
Alpine A523
Photo by: Alpine
Alpine was one of the teams to start 2022 with the downwashing ramp sidepod solution. But, as time ticked by, it slowly morphed into something that allowed it to stand out from the crowd.
This shift focused initially on the hunching of the sidepods' rear corner, which encouraged the passage of airflow from the top to flow down into the coke bottle region at the rear of the car.
However, the team continued to develop this concept, with the central portion of the sidepod excavated in order to create more of a gulley for the airflow to follow down the ramped section towards the rear of the car.
It's this DNA that's clear to see in many of this year's challengers, as they too look to take advantage of the aerodynamic gains that are on offer.
Alpine A522 sidepods detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Ahead of this, Alpine has continued with its inlet style, albeit having made the size a little smaller, whilst knocking off some of the square edges.
It has also split the surface of the mirror stay fin into three sections, taking onboard the design seen on the likes of the AlphaTauri and Mercedes last season.
Alpine has, over the last few years, moved to a much more centreline focused cooling solution than some of its rivals. This resulted in what looked like a more top-heavy design.
In order to balance things out for 2023, there's been some progress made in this regard, all of which will lead to weight savings, improved cooling efficiency and more radical aerodynamic bodywork.
Harman added: "We've taken some of the cooling system that might normally be down the centreline and we've reduced it. We've done that because we want to control some of this mass flow down to the rear of the car.
"Normally we would just take that amount of face area and we'd put it in the sidepod. But, actually the team has worked really aggressively at improving the efficiency of that system, so actually we've removed it from there (the car's centreline) and not put it in there (the sidepod).
"We've made this system smaller, and we've also managed to reduce the plenum temperature of the engine as well. Which again, was not only an aerodynamic benefit but gives more crank power".
The A522 already had the raised engine cover shelf that we've seen others since appropriate, be it last season or as part of their change in concept this season.
Alpine has taken advantage of the smaller cooling internals by optimizing the bodywork's topology as it searches for more aerodynamic performance from its solution.
In comparison, the A523 has the rear cooling outlet raised to accommodate a new rear suspension layout, whilst also providing more room for air to flow into the coke bottle region.
This has also resulted in a more defined downwash approach towards the rear of the cooling outlet, whilst the team has deleted the shark fin from the engine cover, leaving the louvred cooling opening on its spine exposed.
Alpine A523 rear suspension
Photo by: Alpine
At the rear of the car, Alpine has made the switch from pullrod to pushrod suspension, which has reportedly resulted in a weight reduction in comparison with the 2022 arrangement.
It also gives it much more flexibility in terms of set-up and improved aerodynamic flow over the rear section of the car.
Meanwhile, the stacked bi-plane beam wing that was first seen on the Red Bull, and introduced by Alpine at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, remains.
This will be optimised depending on the rear wing specification in use at a particular race weekend, with a more traditional design likely favoured at the really high downforce venues, just as it was last season.
Alpine A523
Photo by: Alpine
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