Only four to go: As of today, the launch dates of AlphaTauri and Alpine have also been set – The midfield rivals will show their cars on 14 and 21 February
With AlphaTauri and Alpine, two more Formula One teams have announced the presentation dates for their 2022 cars this Wednesday. First up was AlphaTauri, who took to social media to announce that they will unveil the AT03 on 14 February at 12pm Central European Time.
Just hours after this announcement, midfield rival Alpine, with whom AlphaTauri duelled for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship in 2021, also announced on social media that it would show its new car on 21 February.
In a short video posted by Alpine, the team also confirmed that its new challenger will be called A522, in reference to last year’s A521.
Something's coming… We're edging closer to the new era of #Alpine innovation.
Save the Date 🗓️ 21.02.22#A522 @alpinecars @alpineracing pic.twitter.com/eYk9459ylb
— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) January 26, 2022
In its first year under the new name, Alpine’s 2021 Formula One season was marked by faltering results, although Esteban Ocon and the returning Fernando Alonso amassed enough points to beat AlphaTauri by 13 points in the battle for fifth place in the World Championship.
Last season also held a first win for Ocon at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was the first win for the Enstone-based team since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, where Kimi Raikkonen triumphed for Lotus-Renault.
AlphaTauri, having finished sixth in the 2021 Constructors’ Championship, will be hoping that the unchanged line-up of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will help improve results. While Gasly had his best season to date last year, Tsunoda had a mixed year as a rookie.
almost ready to enter a new era of Formula 1 📆 mark your calendars, the AT03 is coming! 👌 https://t.co/AnGsP6d3Om pic.twitter.com/L2H1U9huya
— Scuderia AlphaTauri (@AlphaTauriF1) January 26, 2022
Although AlphaTauri’s previous engine supplier, Honda, has withdrawn from Formula 1 at the end of 2021. However, the team from Faenza will continue to race with the same power units – as will Red Bull, which now runs its own engine department.
With AlphaTauri and Alpine, the fifth and sixth teams have meanwhile announced the presentation date for 2022. Previously, McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari had already announced when they would present their new cars. The first test will take place from 23 February in Barcelona.