2026 Alpine F1 car launch: livery reveal set for Friday

Alpine will become the seventh Formula 1 team to launch its car for the 2026 season on Friday, ahead of the start of testing in Barcelona next week.

Alpine enters the new regulatory era in the midst of the most profound transformation in its history, having undergone a complete structural overhaul that extends far beyond the technical regulations themselves.

The Enstone-based operation has shifted to Mercedes power units for 2026 following Renault’s withdrawal from Formula 1 as an engine manufacturer at the end of 2025, ending a works status that defined the team’s identity but failed to deliver the results that justified the investment.

The decision to abandon its own power unit programme was made early enough to allow Alpine to redirect resources toward chassis development, with the team committing to the 2026 project more aggressively than most rivals as it sought to extract advantage from the regulatory reset.

That early commitment has already borne fruit. Alpine became one of the first teams to run its 2026 challenger this week, with Pierre Gasly completing a shakedown at Silverstone that offered a glimpse of the car’s design direction and confirmed the Mercedes power unit integration had been executed smoothly.

The switch to customer engines represents both pragmatism and opportunity. Alpine no longer carries the burden of developing two highly complex technical programmes simultaneously, allowing it to focus engineering efforts on aerodynamics and chassis performance in a way that was impossible under the works model.

Whether that translates into competitiveness remains to be seen, but the structural logic is sound.

Franco Colapinto enters his second season with Alpine after replacing Jack Doohan five races into 2025.

The driver line-up reflects Alpine’s position in the pecking order- not fighting for championships, but building toward sustained competitiveness through a combination of youth development and technical evolution.

The regulatory reset, the power unit switch, and the early development push have created conditions for Alpine to emerge as a surprise package.

Alpine 2026 F1 car livery reveal

Alpine will unveil its 2026 livery on Friday in Barcelona, ahead of the collective shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya scheduled for next week. Full details about the launch plans are yet to be revealed.

Alpine 2026 shakedown and testing schedule

Alpine has already given its 2026 challenger its first taste of running, with Gasly completing a shakedown at Silverstone earlier this week in wet conditions. The early running made Alpine the fourth team to take its 2026 car to the track before official pre-season testing, following Audi, Cadillac and Racing Bulls.

The team will now head to Barcelona for Friday’s livery reveal before the collective shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, scheduled to run from January 26-30.

That event will provide the first opportunity for direct comparisons between teams as Formula 1’s new regulatory era begins in earnest.

Alpine’s 2026 car

Alpine arrives at the new rules era not chasing lost glory, but attempting to establish credibility after years spent treading water in Formula 1’s midfield.

The Enstone outfit will not longer have Renault as an engine supplier, switching to Mercedes customer power units in a move that fundamentally alters the team’s identity but frees up resources that were being consumed by an uncompetitive in-house programme.

That strategic pivot allowed Alpine to shift focus to 2026 development far earlier than would have been possible under the works model, with chassis and aerodynamics receiving undivided attention while rivals continued splitting resources between power unit and car.

The A526 reflects that concentrated effort, a machine built without the compromise and distraction that defined Alpine’s recent history.

Whether the gamble pays off depends entirely on execution – something the team has struggled with consistently – but the foundation for improvement has been laid more deliberately than at any point in the recent past.

Alpine 2026 F1 driver line-up