Alpine A523
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Pierre Gasly drove it in his first year with the Enstone squad, alongside teammate Esteban Ocon. Before its official launch, Gasly and Ocon completed 17 laps at Silverstone in the A523. The design incorporated push-rod rear suspension—a shift from the pull-rod setup on the previous A522—along with rectangular sidepod inlets, a flat nose, and a raised central section on the front wing, sharing visual cues with the AlphaTauri AT03. The season began in Bahrain, where Ocon qualified ninth and Gasly qualified last after a lap-time deletion for track limits.
Opening rounds
Gasly recovered to finish ninth, briefly holding the fastest lap before Zhou Guanyu beat it. Ocon received three time penalties and was retired to preserve the engine, leaving Alpine sixth in the constructors' standings with two points. In Saudi Arabia, Ocon qualified seventh and Gasly tenth. Gasly made contact with Oscar Piastri at the start but avoided damage.
Both drivers lost positions during a safety car for Lance Stroll's retirement, finishing eighth and ninth respectively, moving Alpine to fifth in the standings with eight points. At the Australian Grand Prix, Ocon qualified 11th and Gasly ninth. Gasly jumped to seventh before a safety car, while Ocon slipped to 15th after a poor start. Both stayed out during Alex Albon's crash and changed tyres under a red flag.
On the restart, Gasly ran fourth and Ocon 13th, but Ocon was hit by Nyck de Vries. Gasly stayed in the top ten while Ocon climbed back to tenth. After a second red flag for Kevin Magnussen's crash, Ocon moved to seventh, but Gasly ran wide at turn one. Attempting to rejoin, he cut across the track and collided with Ocon, sending both into the wall.
Neither driver was penalized, but McLaren's double points finish dropped Alpine to sixth in the standings, still on eight points. In Baku's sprint weekend, Ocon qualified 12th and Gasly 19th after a Q1 crash. Ocon started the sprint from the pit lane due to suspension changes and finished 18th, while Gasly finished 13th. For the main race, Ocon again started from the pit lane, hoping for a late safety car that never came.
Lore & Background
The A523 shared several design cues with the AlphaTauri AT03, including push-rod rear suspension in lieu of the A522's pull-rod design, rectangular sidepod inlets, a flat-shaped nose, and a raised front wing central section. Before its official launch, the car ran 17 laps shared between Gasly and Ocon at the Silverstone Circuit. The season began with mixed results: Ocon qualified 9th in Bahrain while Gasly qualified last after a lap-time deletion, though Gasly recovered to finish 9th.
Ocon received three time penalties and was retired to save the engine. Alpine left Bahrain 6th in the constructors' championship with 2 points. The team moved to 5th after Saudi Arabia, where Ocon and Gasly finished 8th and 9th respectively. At the Australian Grand Prix, both drivers crashed heavily on the final restart when Gasly, attempting to rejoin the track, moved across into Ocon, interlocking wheels and sending both into the wall.
The stewards declared it a racing incident. Alpine slipped back to 6th in the standings. Ocon scored the team's first podium of the season at Monaco, finishing 3rd after holding off Lewis Hamilton, and was awarded driver of the day.
Gasly later scored the team's other podium with a 3rd-place finish at Zandvoort after qualifying 12th. The season included notable lows: at the Austrian Grand Prix, Ocon received five separate penalties totaling 30 seconds for track limits and an unsafe release, breaking the record for most penalties in a single race. At the British Grand Prix, both cars retired—Ocon with a hydraulic leak and Gasly after a collision with Lance Stroll. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, both were eliminated on lap one after Zhou Guanyu ran into Daniel Ricciardo, who was pushed into Ocon and then into Gasly.
Closing rounds
At the Italian Grand Prix, both Alpines failed to escape Q1. Ocon retired from the Singapore Grand Prix with a gearbox failure. In the Qatar sprint, Ocon triggered a multi-car crash that mathematically eliminated Sergio Pérez from championship contention.
Reader's Guide
The Alpine A523 represented a transitional year for the Enstone-based team, as it introduced Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon and adopted several design features from the AlphaTauri AT03. The car showed flashes of competitiveness—two podium finishes, including Ocon's first since his 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix win—but inconsistency and incidents prevented sustained progress. The team left the first 10 races 6th in the constructors' championship with 47 points, having been passed by McLaren after the British Grand Prix double retirement.
The A523's season was marked by both drivers suffering race-ending collisions with each other in Australia, multiple penalty-heavy races for Ocon, and a series of mechanical retirements. Despite the difficulties, the car demonstrated the potential to run near the front on certain circuits, as seen in Monaco and Zandvoort. The A523's legacy is that of a capable but unreliable and incident-prone machine that ultimately finished 6th in the constructors' standings, unable to consistently challenge the top midfield teams.
Did You Know?
- The A523 was revealed with a special pink livery for the first three races of the season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who drove the Alpine A523 and when did they first get behind the wheel?
Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were the factory drivers for BWT Alpine F1 Team's 2023 entry. Before the car's official reveal, both drivers already completed 17 laps in the A523 at Silverstone.
What were the A523's main design differences from the previous A522?
The most notable mechanical change was a switch to push-rod rear suspension, replacing the pull-rod arrangement on the A522. Visually, the car featured rectangular sidepod inlets, a flat nose, and a raised central front-wing section that shared styling cues with the AlphaTauri AT03.
What happened to Gasly in the Bahrain season opener?
Gasly had to start from the back of the grid after a qualifying lap was deleted for track limits, but he recovered during the race to cross the line in ninth. Ocon, by contrast, qualified ninth and set the tone for a stronger start to the season.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Alpine A523 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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