Alpine satisfied with day 1 at 2023 Bahrain pre-season testing

Alpine F1 technical director Matt Harman claims the team were able to meet their testing goals on the first day of the 2023 preseason test in Bahrain.

The British engineer believes that the team's drivers were able to reach their mileage goals and carry out their duties successfully.

Harman said after the first day of the preseason test in a team release:

“It’s great to be back in Bahrain for pre-season testing, which is a crucial time for all teams in preparing the cars for the season ahead. What is most important across these three days is adding mileage to the board and building a consistent platform to work from in gathering useful data. We’re satisfied with how our day progressed today with Pierre driving in the morning and Esteban in the afternoon."

Both Alpine drivers logged 113 laps in total, with Pierre Gasly logging 60 laps in the morning session and Esteban Ocon logging 53 laps in the afternoon and evening sessions.

Harman revealed that the team are satisfied with the data collected from their car and how their day unfolded. Both drivers were experimenting with setups on the A523 and were working on understanding the aerodynamic package.

Explaining their test program on the first day, Harman said:

“Our programme focused on characterising our aerodynamic package, understanding the mechanical balance on the car and putting together an accurate and consistent set-up to allow us to continue building our knowledge ahead of the next two days.

“All our systems worked as expected, the drivers delivered similar feedback across the sessions and that means we’re in good stead to continue our learning on Friday with Esteban back in the car in the morning and Pierre in the afternoon.”

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Alpine reveal they have fixed the problem Fernando Alonso faced with their car in 2022

Alpine technical director Matt Harman revealed that the issues with their 2022 car were not specific to Fernando Alonso. The Briton said they have fixed the issues on the A523, adding that the tests they ran in the dyno at the factory have given them confidence for the 2023 season.

Explaining their 2022 problems, Harman told The Race:

“Wasn’t just specific to Alonso. He bore the brunt of them, unfortunately. We had issues generally with some areas of the car. We understood the root cause quite quickly, contained it best we could in the A522, but we’ve actually got to the root cause and counter-measured them for the A 523.

“We’ve run a lot of mileage in our full-car dyno and that allows us to get that real big confidence in context with the car.”

Bruno Famin, executive director of the Alpine engine division, revealed that the issue was related to their water pump. He explained:

“To be transparent, we had one big issue last year during the full season, which was linked to the water pump. Very quickly during the season we saw that to solve that problem we needed to change the location of the pump, to change the pump itself and that couldn’t be done without changing other parts and integration on the car.

“It was just impossible to do during the season. And during the season last year we made some modifications and improvements to reduce the risk but only reducing the risk. Then the big step is now with the A523, with a new water pump in a new place.”

The Alpine A523 is expected to be an evolved version of its predecessor but is believed to be more reliable.