Esteban Ocon excited to hit the track with A523: “I’m certainly ready to go racing again”

BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon is ready to take on the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship and begin testing with the newly-launched A523. 

Alpine ended the 2022 season in fourth place, with Ocon slotting into eighth place in the drivers standings. Now partnered with Pierre Gasly for 2023,The French driver hopes to help the team reach its goals and keep moving forward. 

“I am very excited for the coming season with BWT Alpine F1 Team, my fourth year with the Enstone-Viry family. We showed some great progress in 2022 and everyone in France and the United Kingdom has been working hard on developing the car for 2023.”

Ocon will take to the track for Thursday’s afternoon testing session at Bahrain International Circuit, where he will have his first opportunity to see where A523 stands performance-wise and prepare for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. 

“I cannot wait to get the season underway to continue the upwards trajectory from last year, and I am looking forward to testing the car properly in the pre-season test.”

A523 will have a special all-pink livery for the season’s first three races before reverting to the team’s regular blue-and-pink colorway, which serves as a continuation of last year’s livery design. Ocon looks forward to seeing the team’s new livery in action this weekend. 

“The livery looks fantastic – it really stands out – and I’m sure it’s going to look amazing on track.”

Having put in great effort over the winter to get ready for a new year of racing, Ocon feels that he is prepared physically to take on what will be a record-breaking 23-race-long season.

“I have been working very hard over the winter to prepare for the start of the season, I feel like I’m in really good shape and, right now, I’m certainly ready to go racing again.”