Alpine A521
| Industry | Formula One racing |
|---|---|
Key people | Pat Fry (Chief Technical Officer), Matt Harman (Technical Director), Dirk de Beer (Head of Aerodynamics) |
| Products | Alpine A521 Formula One car |
| Parent | Renault |
| Website | www |
The Alpine A521 represents the Formula One car engineered by the Alpine F1 Team for participation in the 2021 Formula One World Championship. This model signified Alpine's debut under their rebranded identity and was piloted by Fernando Alonso, who made his F1 comeback, alongside Esteban Ocon. Powering the vehicle was a Mecachrome-constructed Renault E-Tech 20B 1.6L turbocharged V6 engine delivering in excess of 950 horsepower, mated to an 8-speed semi-automatic sequential gearbox developed by Renault. Throughout the season, the A521 took part in 21 Grands Prix, achieving a single victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix and earning two podium placements. The technical team was led by Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry, Technical Director Matt Harman, and Head of Aerodynamics Dirk de Beer. The car ran on BP Ultimate fuel, used Castrol lubricants, and was shod with Pirelli tyres.
Livery
The vehicle sported a French blue color scheme accentuated by a French flag motif positioned at the rear. For the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Alpine unveiled a unique livery design commemorating their 100th race in collaboration with sponsor Castrol. Additionally, during the initial practice session of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the rear wing branding was substituted with "El Plan", a Spanish phrase meaning "the plan," inspired by a fan-driven meme celebrating Alonso's return to Formula One.
Season summary
The A521 demonstrated strong competitiveness, accumulating 155 points and finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship standings, highlighted by one race win and two podium finishes. Esteban Ocon secured his inaugural Formula One victory at the , while Fernando Alonso achieved his first podium since 2014 at the .
Post-competition
In July 2024, Alpine gifted Ocon with the actual A521 chassis responsible for his Hungarian Grand Prix triumph. Although fitted with an engine, certain elements such as batteries and ECUs were absent, making the car non-operational without servicing.
Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Power unit | Tyres | Driver name | Grands Prix | Points | WCC pos. | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BHR | EMI | POR | ESP | MON | AZE | FRA | STY | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL‡ | NED | ITA | RUS | TUR | USA | MXC | SAP | QAT | SAU | ABU | |||||||
| Template:F1 | Alpine F1 Team | Renault E-Tech 20B |
Template:Pirelli | Template:Country data ESPTemplate:Namespace detect showall Fernando Alonso | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | Template:F1R2021 | ||||||
- Notes
Driver did not finish but was classified after completing over 90% of the race winner’s distance.
Half points awarded due to less than 75% of total race distance being completed.