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Alpine A524

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Alpine A524
An A524 driven by Pierre Gasly during the Spanish Grand Prix
CategoryFormula One
Designer(s)Matthew Harman (Technical Director)
Simon Virrill (Chief Designer)
Benjamin Norton (Chief Engineer)
Steven Booth (Head of Engineering)
Dirk de Beer (Head of Aerodynamics)
James Rodgers (Chief Aerodynamicist)
PredecessorAlpine A523
Technical specifications
Suspension (front)Double wishbone push-rod
Suspension (rear)Double wishbone push-rod
EngineMecachrome-built and assembled Renault E-Tech RE24
1.6 L (98 cu in) direct injection V6 turbocharged engine limited to 15,000 RPM in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout 1.6 L (98 cu in) Turbo Rear-mid mounted
Electric motorKinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
FuelBP[1]
LubricantsCastrol[1]
Tyres
Competition history
Notable entrantsBWT Alpine F1 Team
Notable drivers
Debut2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last event2024 São Paulo Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/Laps
210201

The Alpine A524 is a Formula One racing car designed and developed by the Alpine F1 Team competing in the 2024 Formula One World Championship.[2] It is the fourth Formula One car entered by Alpine since rebranding from Renault. The A524 is being driven by Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who is in his final season with the team.[3] Reserve driver duties are handled by former Formula 2 driver and Alpine junior Jack Doohan. Initially considered to be the worst-running car of the field at the beginning of the year, the team's results have steadily improved thoughout the season to return to the lower midfield. The car managed to score Alpine's first fastest lap at the United States Grand Prix, and the team's first double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix, which was also the team's first podium of the season.

History

[edit]

Alpine unveiled the car at a launch event at their factory at Enstone on 7 February 2024, alongside the Alpine A424 sports prototype racing car.[2][4] It sported a mostly bare carbon livery, with streaks of blue and pink across the car. Two liveries were released, a traditional blue one and a pink one in partnership with title sponsors BWT. It originally sported little colour, but from pre-season testing onwards, a blue arrow was added across the front nose cone. The pink livery was unchanged. The car made its first appearance at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.[5] The car's weaknesses were observed to be a lack of traction, a lack of downforce, and it being 11 kilograms heavier than the 798kg minimum. This extra weight came from an attempt to strengthen the monocoque, which had failed its lateral load test.[6] A lighter chassis appeared at the Chinese Grand Prix.[7]

Season summary

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The Alpine A524's performance on track compared to previous cars was immediately deemed to be lacking[6] at the Bahrain Grand Prix, locking out the last two places on the grid during qualifying and finishing seventeenth and eighteenth behind Valtteri Bottas, who had suffered a slow pit stop, and Logan Sargeant.[8] Alpine's woes continued into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with both drivers once again suffering a Q1 knockout with Ocon in seventeenth and Gasly eighteenth. While Gasly retired after the formation lap due to a gearbox problem, Ocon finished in thirteenth.[9] At the Australian Grand Prix, Ocon made it to Q2 but was only able to qualify in fifteenth, and Gasly was knocked out of Q1 once again in seventeenth. Gasly finished in thirteenth and Ocon sixteenth - last on track after George Russell retired, with Gasly receiving a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit exit line.[10] The Japanese Grand Prix saw Ocon qualify fifteenth once again with Gasly in seventeenth, with both drivers finishing fifteenth and sixteenth respectively.[11]

Ocon at the Dutch Grand Prix

The first sprint weekend of the Chinese Grand Prix saw Gasly and Ocon qualify sixteenth and seventeenth respectively, with Ocon finishing thirteenth and Gasly fifteenth. Both Alpines made it into Q2 for qualifying for the main race, with Ocon, who qualified thirteenth, finishing eleventh and Gasly, who qualified fifteenth, finishing thirteenth.[12]

At the sprint qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, Gasly and Ocon qualified for sixteenth and thirteenth respectively. Ocon would finish fifteenth and Gasly would finish ninth, Alpine's highest race finishing position to date. Both Alpines made it into Q2 for qualifying for the main race. Gasly, who qualified twelfth, would remain in twelfth during the race. Ocon, who qualified thirteenth, would finish in tenth, giving Alpine's first point finish of the season.[13]

Sponsorship and livery

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Other than the addition of an additional blue/pink arrow on the front nose cone after pre-season testing, and a rainbow gradient across the halo at the Austrian Grand Prix for Pride Month, Alpine's livery has remained mostly the same. Much like previous years since 2022, Alpine competes in a pink livery for title sponsors BWT, and instead of only being restricted to the first few races of the season, the pink livery was used for more races throughout the season. So far, the pink livery has been used in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Azerbaijan and São Paulo.

So far, two special liveries have been used by Alpine to promote their investors and sponsors. For the Belgian Grand Prix, Alpine raced with a Deadpool livery to promote the Deadpool & Wolverine film, which stars and was produced by investor Ryan Reynolds' production company[14] and for the United States Grand Prix, Alpine raced with an Indiana Jones livery to promote the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle game, which involved Microsoft subsidary Xbox.[15]

Complete Formula One results

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(key)

Year Entrant Power unit Tyres Driver name Grands Prix Points WCC pos.
BHR SAU AUS JPN CHN MIA EMI MON CAN ESP AUT GBR HUN BEL NED ITA AZE SIN USA MXC SAP LVG QAT ABU
2024 BWT Alpine F1 Team Renault E-Tech RE24 P France Pierre Gasly 18 Ret 13 16 13 12 16 10 9 9 10 DNS Ret 13 9 15 12 17 12 10 37 49* 6th*
France Esteban Ocon 17 13 16 15 11 10 14 Ret 10 10 12 16 18 9 15 14 15 13 18F 13 2
Reference:[16][17]

* Season still in progress

References

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  1. ^ a b "Groupe Renault and BP deepen their strategic partnership". BP.
  2. ^ a b "F1: Alpine Livery for 2024 Revealed, Ocon and Gasly to Race A524 with 'Aggressive Approach'". autoX. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  3. ^ Barretto, Lawrence (3 June 2024). "Alpine to part ways with Ocon at end of 2024 season". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ Wood, Will (7 February 2024). "First pictures: Alpine reveals its new F1 car for 2024". RaceFans. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Alpine reveal 'aggressive' new A524 car for 2024 season". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Straw, Edd (1 March 2024). "Why Alpine is starting F1 2024 even worse than expected". The Race. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. ^ Noble, Jonathan; Sommerfield, Matt (19 April 2024). "Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China". www.autosport.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  8. ^ Nichol, Jake (3 March 2024). "Winner and Losers from 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix". RacingNews365. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Verstappen seals assured victory in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Bearman scores points on debut". Formula One Management. 9 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Sainz storms to victory amid drama in Australia as Verstappen retires and Russell crashes out". Formula One Management. 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Verstappen leads home Perez for Red Bull one-two at Japanese GP after early drama". Formula One. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Verstappen charges to victory over Norris and Perez in action-packed Chinese GP". Formula One. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Ocon delighted to score Alpine's first point of the season". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  14. ^ Saunders, Nate (24 July 2024). "Alpine reveal Deadpool & Wolverine livery for Belgian Grand Prix". ESPN. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Start the engines, Jock! Alpine will sport a special Indiana Jones livery at the US GP". TopGear.com. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  16. ^ "2024 Constructor Standings". Formula1.com. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Alpine A524". StatsF1. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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