Alpine show off their 2024 F1 challenger

The Anglo-French F1 outfit, Alpine have presented their challenger for the 2024 F1 season, taking the covers off the A524 car driven by Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

Alpine Motorsports staged a special launch show that also saw the French brand’s World Endurance Championship effort formally presented.

For Formula 1, Alpine prepares for the record-breaking 24-race season with race drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly set to take the wheel of the completely revised A524 Formula 1 car. It is the second consecutive season that Ocon and Gasly join together to form an all-French and all-Normandy pairing. Both race drivers are joined by Jack Doohan who will again serve as the team’s Reserve Driver for the 2024 season.

In the World Endurance Championship, Alpine embarks on its first season in the Hypercar category as a factory team with the A424, buoyed by its two-car line-up and headlined by the addition of Mick Schumacher. The German is set to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time. The German is joined by experienced drivers in car #36, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere. And in car #35 new signings Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin, join young talent Charles Milesi who races for a second season with the team. Jules Gounon serves as the reserve driver for the 2024 season.

The liveries of the A524 and A424 are modern and striking, largely inspired by Alpine’s partnership with contemporary artist Felipe Pantone. Black by core and highlighted by vibrant patterns of Alpine blue with the team stating that the "design is unique and eye-catching and contributes to the shape of Alpine Motorsports’ identity."

The Austrian company, BWT enters the third year of title partnership with the French F1 team, which is marked by its world-renowned pink colours that feature strongly on its A524 livery. At eight races this season, the livery will be pink dominated to further underline Alpine’s strong partnership with the Mondsee-based water company, which is centred around reducing single-use plastic in the world.

In attendance at the launch were Renault Group CEO Luca De Meo – reaffirming Renault Group’s commitment to motorsport through the Alpine brand – and Alpine CEO Philippe Krief.

The A424 heads to Qatar for the season prologue and the first race of the season later this month, while the A524 begins its 2024 on-track season with its shakedown on 20 February before three days pre-season testing in Bahrain from 21-23 February ahead of the season opener in Sakhir a week later.

Commenting on the launch of the brand-new A524, Alpine F1 Team Principal, Bruno Famin added: “It’s a great moment for Alpine Motorsports to come together and officially present its programmes for the 2024 season. It is certainly a unique moment to have both the A524 Formula 1 car and A424 Hypercar along with all the drivers in the same room as both projects prepare for what will undoubtedly be a busy and intense 2024 year.

"To see both the real cars here today is testament to all the hard work conducted behind the scenes at our factories from our thousands of talented employees in the United Kingdom and in France. The next stage on our journey is deploying everything to the track, applying operational excellence across the board and growing a greater dynamic and mindset from all our teams. We are all very much looking forward to continuing the hard work to bring the Alpine name success.”

Expanding on the technical details of the new Alpine F1 challenger, Matt Harman, Technical Director commented: “The A524 approach has been aggressive but deliberate in the fact we are creating a wider scope to add performance to the car. We have really focused on learning and reacting to what we have learnt rather than on results.

"The project has been bold where we have focused on realising concepts, which we aim to add to the car. We’ve built ourselves a strong platform to add performance when we can and we have set ourselves targets to deliver those. We have pushed some elements to the limit and, in some cases, beyond that. That is all in line with our approach and exactly what we have set out to achieve in progressing this project to the best possible level.”

Speaking of the 2024 F1 season, Ocon said: “It goes without saying that I am super excited for the season and I cannot wait to jump back in the car and go racing again. This time of the year is exciting as it is the moment we see what the team has produced.

"I have seen drawings, been on the simulator but, obviously, not yet seen or sampled the complete, real thing. That will wait until shakedown but it’s a nice moment for the team as it’s the culmination of thousands of hours of hard work. As a driver, it’s a goosebumps moment when you jump in a new car for the first time and release the pit limiter. That time is close now with the A524 and I really cannot wait to get started.”

Ahead of his second season with Alpine, Gasly added: “I would say that I am in a much better place right now than this time 12 months ago. I know exactly all the people I’m working with; I know all the processes and how to get the best out of those around me and out of myself. It is nice to have continuity and building on the foundations that we created last year. I’m feeling confident with the team I have around me. We have all been developing over the last year. Now I am confident that I can attack t