Alpine A524

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Alpine A524
An A524 driven by Gasly during the Chinese Grand Prix
CategoryFormula One
Designer(s)Joe Burnell (Technical Director)
Matt Harman (Technical Director)
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 Chinese Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/Laps
50000

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 Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, while reserve driver duties are handled by Formula 2 driver and Alpine junior Jack Doohan. It is widely considered to be a step down from its predecessor, and one of the least competitive cars on track.

History[edit]

Alpine unveiled the car at a launch event at their factory at Enstone on 7 February 2024.[2][3] 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 stripe was added across the front nose cone. The pink livery was unchanged. The car made its first appearance at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.[4] 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.[5] A lighter chassis appeared at the Chinese Grand Prix.[6]

Season summary[edit]

The Alpine A524's performance on track compared to previous cars was immediately deemed to be lacking[5] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] The Japanese Grand Prix saw Ocon qualify fifteenth once again with Gasly in seventeenth, with both drivers finishing fifteenth and sixteenth respectively.[10]

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.[11]

Complete Formula One results[edit]

(key)

Year Entrant Power unit Tyres Driver name Grands Prix Points WCC pos.
BHR SAU AUS JPN CHN MIA MON ESP CAN AUT GBR HUN BEL NED ITA SIN AZE QAT USA MXC SAP LVG ABU
2024 BWT Alpine F1 Team Renault E-Tech RE24 P France Pierre Gasly 18 Ret 13 16 13 0* 9th*
France Esteban Ocon 17 13 16 15 11
Reference:[12][13]

* Season still in progress

References[edit]

  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. ^ Wood, Will (7 February 2024). "First pictures: Alpine reveals its new F1 car for 2024". RaceFans. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Alpine reveal 'aggressive' new A524 car for 2024 season". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b Straw, Edd (1 March 2024). "Why Alpine is starting F1 2024 even worse than expected". The Race. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. ^ 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Nichol, Jake (3 March 2024). "Winner and Losers from 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix". RacingNews365. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Verstappen seals assured victory in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Bearman scores points on debut". Formula One Management. 9 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Sainz storms to victory amid drama in Australia as Verstappen retires and Russell crashes out". Formula One Management. 24 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Verstappen leads home Perez for Red Bull one-two at Japanese GP after early drama". Formula One. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Verstappen charges to victory over Norris and Perez in action-packed Chinese GP". Formula One. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  12. ^ "2024 Constructor Standings". Formula1.com. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Alpine A524". StatsF1. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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