23 February 2022

After thousands of hours of manpower at the Enstone and Viry-Châtillon sites, A522 is finally ready for its official debut. It’s also ready to hit the track and take up the gauntlet in light of the rule change.

 

After 69 days without Formula 1, Fernando Alonso took A522 on its inaugural run, completing 129 laps on his national track, all with the new RE22 power unit. Excitement was in the air. Nevertheless, the team still had a lot of work to do in order to be ready for the season, less than a month away in Bahrain.

 

Esteban Ocon will take the wheel of the single-seater tomorrow to kick off the season and continue getting the team ready for winter in Barcelona.

 

Fernando Alonso:

 

“It’s good to be back after a long hiatus. We have dedicated plenty of time and hours to prepare for this moment, both in our two plants and in the garage. The cars are very different from last year’s, and we need to adapt to their new features. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but that is why we have test runs. Even after all the mileage we put on the car, it has more or less proven its reliability on this first day. During testing, the mileage and reliability are prioritised over kilometres for life. We are, therefore, satisfied with the first day on board our new car.”

 

Matt Harman, Technical Director:

 

“Today, all that hard work over the past two years or so at the Enstone and Virysites is finally paying off. Congratulations to all of those who helped ensure we could reach this key phase. We are thrilled with our first day, having clocked 129 laps. We ran into one or two small issues to fix, but we were able to fix them more quickly, thus driving up the mileage. Positive feedback from Fernando. He commented on the overall balance of the car and was pleased with the various set-up ideas and tyre options. We worked diligently to verify everything beforehand. In the spirit of the testing days, we wanted to verify even more. This important day for the team marks a major milestone for A522, and we can’t wait to see Esteban at the wheel Thursday.”