With a striking new livery and a new team principal, there’s a lot to be excited about with Alpine this season.
Last season saw the team continue their progressive form, putting them in a strong position for the regulation change.
Two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso will drive for the team once again this season after joining Alpine for 2021 after a two-year absence from the sport.
In that time Alonso took part in the Indy500 along with winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He marked his return to Formula One by claiming his first podium since 2014, with a third-place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix.
He will partner Esteban Ocon, who will be in his third season with the team. He won his first Grand Prix last season, standing on the top step of the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
This was in addition to his second-place finish at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, the first time he stood on the F1 podium in his career.
Pre-season testing in Barcelona saw the team finish inside the top ten on only one occasion, the first day of running when Alonso was behind the wheel. The Spanish driver lapped the circuit 127 times and this is something that would have been very beneficial to the team.
Ocon got his first taste of 2022 machinery on the second day of testing and ended running down in 14th place, but managed to put in an impressive 125 laps.
The final day in Barcelona was much more a struggle for the team and they could only manage 12 laps of running, with Alonso behind the wheel of their new challenger.
The team arrived in Bahrain looking to get even more running under their belt, but between Ocon and Alonso, they only managed 66 laps.
Ocon clocked 111 laps on the second day of running and even ended the session sixth on the leaderboard before Alonso took over on the third and final day of testing, ending the session fourth in the standings with 122 laps completed.
Alpine has a very strong driver line-up and should be fighting for points and maybe even podiums as the season progresses.
It will depend on how the team adapt to Otmar Safenur joining as new Team Principal and what he can bring from his days at Aston Martin.
Both these drivers are almost on a level playing field and during Ocon’s time with Alpine, he was put in some incredible drives and was rewarded for that with his first Grand Prix victory last season.
Alonso brings a lot of experience and this is something that is really benefiting the team and helping Ocon improve as a driver.