Alpine A523
| Company type | Formula One team |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motorsport |
| Headquarters | Enstone , United Kingdom |
Area served | Formula One World Championship |
| Products | Formula One cars (e.g., Alpine A523) |
The Alpine A523 represents the Formula One racing vehicle engineered by the BWT Alpine F1 Team for competition in the 2023 Formula One World Championship. This season marked Pierre Gasly’s debut with the Enstone-based outfit, partnering Esteban Ocon.
Design and development
Revealed on 16 February 2023, the A523 sported a distinctive pink livery for the initial trio of races. Before its official debut, both drivers completed a 17-lap shakedown at Silverstone. The car’s design integrates features reminiscent of the AlphaTauri AT03, such as a push-rod rear suspension replacing the former pull-rod design, rectangular sidepod air intakes, a flat nose structure, and an elevated central section on the front wing.
First 10 races
At the opening round in Bahrain, Ocon secured 9th on the grid, whereas Gasly qualified last (20th) after his fastest lap was annulled. Gasly advanced to finish 9th and momentarily held the fastest lap before it was surpassed by Zhou Guanyu. Ocon incurred three time penalties and retired to preserve his engine. Alpine left Bahrain positioned 6th in the constructors’ standings with 2 points. During the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ocon qualified 7th and Gasly 10th; both were overtaken by drivers recovering positions but ended up 8th and 9th respectively, with Ocon scoring his initial points of the season. Alpine rose to 5th place with a total of 8 points.
In Australia, Ocon started from 11th and Gasly from 9th on the grid. Gasly quickly moved up to 7th, while Ocon fell back to 15th after a poor launch. A red flag period allowed tyre changes benefiting both drivers; however, Ocon was involved in a collision with Nyck de Vries. Subsequently, Gasly and Ocon collided heavily, resulting in their retirements. The stewards classified this as a racing incident without assigning penalties. Alpine dropped to 6th in the constructors’ rankings with 8 points.
During Baku’s inaugural sprint weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ocon qualified 12th while Gasly crashed out in Q1, starting from 19th. Ocon began the sprint race from the pit lane due to suspension modifications, finishing 18th; Gasly completed it in 13th place. Both drivers started from the pit lane in the main race; Ocon finished 15th behind Gasly’s 14th place. An incident involving photographers in the pit lane prompted FIA revisions to parc fermé protocols. Alpine remained in 6th place with 8 points, trailing McLaren by six.
Gasly achieved a strong qualifying performance of 5th for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix and finished in 8th position; Ocon qualified 9th and ended up 9th as well. At Monaco, Ocon was elevated to third on the grid following a penalty against Leclerc, while Gasly qualified seventh. Despite contact with Carlos Sainz Jr., Ocon secured third place—his first podium since winning at Hungary in 2021—and Alpine’s maiden podium of the year. Gasly finished seventh after employing strategic tyre changes. This result propelled Alpine back to fifth in the constructors’ championship with 35 points, holding an 18-point lead over McLaren but trailing Ferrari by 55.
At the Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying saw Gasly fourth and Ocon seventh; however, their race finishes were outside points in tenth and eighth respectively. In Canada, Ocon qualified sixth and finished eighth despite being impeded during the race, while Gasly started seventeenth and concluded twelfth. During the Austrian Grand Prix, Gasly outqualified Ocon for both sprint and race but struggled throughout—ending up fifteenth in the sprint and tenth in the main event without scoring points. Ocon accumulated five penalties totaling thirty seconds for track limit violations and unsafe releases, setting a new record.
In Britain, both drivers retired: Ocon due to a hydraulic failure and Gasly following a collision with Lance Stroll. McLaren’s double points finish resulted in Alpine slipping to sixth place in the constructors’ standings.
After ten rounds, Alpine held sixth position in the constructors’ championship with a total of 47 points. In driver rankings, Ocon was placed eleventh with 31 points while Gasly stood twelfth with 16 points.
Hungary to Japan
At the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, Gasly secured thirteenth on the grid while Ocon qualified just ahead in twelfth. However, neither driver scored points as Zhou's collision with the returning Daniel Ricciardo caused Ricciardo to be pushed into both Ocon and Gasly.
During the sprint race at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon held ninth place, and Gasly, who started sixth, achieved a podium finish in third behind Verstappen and Piastri. In the main event, Ocon ended the race in eighth position, with Gasly finishing just outside the points in eleventh. At Zandvoort, Gasly earned another podium by finishing third despite starting twelfth, while Ocon moved up from seventeenth to finish tenth.
Monza presented difficulties; neither Alpine driver advanced beyond Q1 at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. Gasly qualified fifteenth, and Ocon retired early due to steering complications. At the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, Ocon started eighth and Gasly twelfth; Gasly managed a sixth-place finish, but Ocon was forced to retire on lap 42 following a gearbox malfunction. For the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix, Ocon qualified fourteenth and Gasly twelfth, crossing the line ninth and tenth respectively.
Closing rounds
During qualifying for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Gasly and Ocon secured seventh and eighth places respectively, with starting positions of eleventh and tenth for the sprint race. A lock-up by Ocon led to a collision involving himself, Sergio Pérez, and Nico Hülkenberg, which ended Pérez’s championship hopes. Gasly finished ninth in the sprint; however, neither Alpine driver scored points. In the main race, Gasly initially crossed tenth but was demoted to twelfth after receiving a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, while Ocon finished seventh.