Here is the very late @AlpineF1Team #A522 Technical thread. Yep this is a very late, but there is a lot to say about the car with #F1Testing done and dusted (it was quite dusty) - next is the #BahrainGP but first the tech thread! 
Renault owned Alpine launched the new A522 Formula 1 car in a ceremony in Paris, however the cars at the launch were simply show cars. The real A522 would appear shortly afterwards in Catalunya.
Before we get to the actual car, I thought it worth noting that the A522 is not the first Alpine F1 car, rather it is the third. The first was the A350 of 1968 never raced after its Renault engine was found to be way down on power compared to the Cosworth DFV. @les_alpinistes
There is a good piece on that car here: lesalpinistes.com/alpine-f1-lhis… @les_alpinistes
The second Alpine F1 car had a similar story, the A500 was built in 1975, but was used largely as a test mule for the new turbocharged Renault F1 engine. There is a nice piece on it here: lesalpinistes.com/alpine-a500-le… @les_alpinistes
What about the Alpine A521? well that was simply a rebranded (and modified) Renault RS19. Thread on that car here:
https://twitter.com/NorthHertsSam/status/1371125164147159042
The new Alpine A522 made its track debut in a shakedown run in Barcelona. It is known that the run was not problem free with some bodywork breaking loose on at least one run.
https://twitter.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1496191544604430341
Starting at the front of the car the nose tip blends into the second element of the front wing and is raised somewhat over the centre section of the first element. Note the driver cooling duct, and small hatch on one side.
The front wing has a relatively simple first element, viewed front on the upper three elements look fairly flat, if curved. A long gurney was added to the upper element in Bahrain, and the first element was revised. Note the setup tools
Alpine’s front wing end plate deviates from the basic shape, with a slightly curved upper edge compared to the flat template used by most teams. The dive plane is a flattened S shape.
The A522 features a conventional pull rod front suspension layout. As with all cars this is likely a choice driven by aerodynamic requirements rather than packaging or vehicle dynamics. More on this choice here:
https://twitter.com/ScarbsTech/status/1488215409757245445
With the nose and top panel removed you can see some of the inboard suspension components as well as the front bulkhead.
A look at the very neat front brake ducts on the A522. This is likely to be an area of significant in season development
The leading edge of the floor is aluminium, while the base of the chassis does not feature an electronics cooling slot like many 2022 cars do.
Alpine has twin supports for its mirrors, note how the outer support extends rearward. The mirror uses the drag reducing concept which has developed over recent seasons after first being described in a technical paper - you can read it here: scholarship.miami.edu/esploro/output…
On the rear part of the Halo there are two small aerodynamic elements, this is another area where teams have started to experiment more.
A look at the leading edge of the floor tunnels, one major area of engineering freedom for all teams.
Alpine tried three variants in testing, one with a large forward extension, one with a curved outer edge and one with a slightly flatter more angular edge.
The sidepod ducts are fairly large and wide with a slight undercut, the overall concept is not that dissimilar to that of McLaren but the Alpine side pods are longer.
A lot of attention has been placed on the cooling louvres of the Alpine, of which there are many. In Barcelona the car spent a lot of the time with some of the louvres blanked off with tape, or with the single forward slit opened up, in Bahrain they were mainly fully open.
It was a similar story of the rear louvred panel on the engine cover which was also largely blanked off in Barcelona but opened up in Sakhir.
However on closer inspection it is clear that all is not as it appears, not all of the apparent cooling openings are that at all, as they feature no holes at all, as can be seen here with the panels removed. Alpine clearly have options here.
Under the rear bodywork there is a lot of empty space, but also the new Renault V6 power unit, which for the first time features a split turbo layout. It is not yet clear if the engine has the same low revving nature that the previous V6 did.
Air to that V6 is fed from the duct on the roll hoop which has a roughly rectangular outer shape but the roll over structure is triangular in shape, it has a pair of remote supports.
A look at Ocon’s helmet height vs Alonso’s, the difference is less pronounced than it was with the A521/RS19, as this chassis was designed around Ocon’s tall frame and the Renault was not
The floor edge of the Alpine was a point of interest from the very first run, it has a small raised section, with a horizontal Gurney running its full length back to a cut out ahead of the rear wheel, I expect to see a lot of development on this part of the Alpine.
The rear floors are a major point of attention, not just for the teams but also for the FIA who are keen to see that they do not flex too much and create a skirt effect, to avoid this many teams are now using metal stays, but Alpine for now has opted not to do this.
Alpine has gone for a pull rod rear suspension layout, and utilised a composite casing on its in house transmission, having moved away from a titanium casing on the Enstone built RS19. Note the small cut out on the rear floor visible here.
The Alpine rear wing has a single support which splits over the exhaust, the early spec wing has a fairly flat centre section
Looking at the rear of the A522 it is worth noting that the car has a louvred centreline cooling exit, similar to the Haas but with the fin splitting it in the middle (Haas has a remote fin).
A look at the rear end of the A522, note the beam wing design and the winglets around the rear brake duct
I think I’ll leave it there for now but there is a lot more to come from the Alpine I suspect.
Yep typo here - obviously push rod!
There is an error in this thread - the car obviously has front pushrod actuated suspension! lesson here, check things you wrote when very tired on a plane!
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