Alpine will publicly unveil its new A523 later this week on Thursday, but the French outfit was at Silverstone today where it secretly shook down its 2023 F1 contender.
Both Esteban Ocon and the Enstone squad's new driver Pierre Gasly were on hand to sample the new machine, with the team conforming to F1's 'filming day' regulations by restricting its running to 100 km on Pirelli control tyres.
"It’s been another milestone ticked for the A523 today with our shakedown at Silverstone and I’m pleased the day ran so smoothly," said Alpine Technical Director Matt Harmon.
"Esteban drove first in the morning to check all the systems were working properly as well as completing the usual install programme for the car.
"Pierre was then in the car in the afternoon for the first time in the A523 and completed eight stable laps to get an initial feel in his new surroundings.
"These days are of course limited and not representative, but we’ve certainly had a great day and we now look forward to testing in Bahrain where we expect to continue our learning of the 2023 car."
Alpine will pull the covers off its new car at an event in London at 20:00 GMT that will cap F1's launch season.
Next week, teams will head to Bahrain for pre-season testing which begins on February 20.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
