Alpine

If ever a team needed a turnaround, it is this one. The faster 2025 can be forgotten the better for a once Grand Prix Racing great in its former guise of Renault. There were reasons for last year’s abject performance, in which the team finished last in the Constructors’ championship – but did at least amass the Most points of any team to ever finish last, therefore becoming the best worst team in F1 history… you decide if that’s an accolade or not! Internal management power struggles and revolving driver doors didn’t help, but Enstone was at least very up front that it had essentially written off last year’s car to focus fully on this year.

“There were reasons for last year’s abject performance, where Alpine became the best worst F1 team ever”

What the team started with, it largely finished with. Not helpful when the A525 wasn’t very good in the First place and was powered by a Renault power unit set to be put out to pasture. This year’s car will be the First Alpine built around a customer Mercedes engine, marking a fresh start for the team and hopefully a reset in its fortunes.

10 Pierre Gasly Born February 1996, France Starts 177 Wins 1 / Podiums 5 / Poles 0 Notable achievements 2017 Super Formula second, 2016 GP2 Series champion, 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 second

43 Franco Colapinto Born May 2003, Argentina Starts 26 Wins 0 / Podiums 0 / Poles 0 Notable achievements 2021 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 third, 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup third, 2019 Spanish F4 champion

Can Alpine produce a car worthy of its new engine?

Alpine enters the 2026 F1 era with a new engine and renewed purpose, hoping a reset can succeed where recent seasons have fallen short

Alpine’s entry into F1’s new era has largely been non-celebratory, not because expectations are low, but because the stakes are unusually clear. The 2026 car will be the First Alpine to be conceived entirely around a customer power unit, and Enstone’s First time running a modern-style customer engine rather than being aligned to a manufacturer’s works project.

After Renault’s decision to halt its own engine programme in 2025, the team enters the new regulations dependent on Mercedes hardware, which is believed to be the benchmark power unit of the new era.

The question that will frame everything Alpine unveils is whether the team has built a car worthy of what it has been given after a simply disastrous 2025.

Renault’s withdrawal from power-unit development marked the end of an identity that had defined the team in various forms for decades, including Benetton, Renault, Lotus and, finally, Alpine itself.

While framed publicly as a pragmatic business decision, it also represented an admission: the resources required to win under the new rules were beyond what the programme could realistically justify.

For Alpine, the Shift to Mercedes power is not inherently a step backwards, particularly as the German manufacturer appears to be a step ahead of the competition, that is if pre-season paddock talk is to be believed.

McLaren won both titles with a Mercedes engine last year, and the competitive ceiling of the new regulations is designed to be flatter than in previous cycles, at least in theory. But abandoning works status removes a layer of justification, as Alpine can no longer point to engine limitations if or when results disappoint. From 2026, performance shortfalls will reflect almost entirely on the chassis, the aero concept and, eventually, the organisation itself.

A season written off

Alpine arrives at 2026 after one of the bleakest seasons in its modern history. The 2025 campaign was effectively sacrificed early, with development effort redirected towards the new regulations long before the competitive picture stabilised.

The result was a car that spent much of the year at the back of the field, frequently detached even from the midfield battles it once considered its natural territory. That sacrifice only works if it buys progress once the new season starts.

Alpine has accepted short-term pain in exchange for long-term competitiveness – a logic that Ferrari and Mercedes have also embraced to varying degrees.

But the danger is obvious: If Alpine’s 2026 car does not represent a visible step forward, the narrative shifts from strategic patience to institutional failure. Also like Ferrari or Mercedes, there will likely be no appetite at board level for another year of explanations at Alpine.

The engine can’t fix it all

The Mercedes power brings expectation, but not guarantees. Integrating a new engine is one of the Most complex challenges under the 2026 regulations, where energy deployment, cooling efficiency and packaging philosophy are tightly interwoven with aerodynamic performance.

“If the car is bad, it is our fault. We did not have any problems building this car. We had the budget”

Stability has been elusive, and frequent leadership changes inevitably bleed into technical decision-making. As a new era begins, Alpine needs discipline and calm competence rather than another reinvention.

No one will be expecting Alpine to fight for wins in 2026. What matters is whether it looks credible and competitive enough to justify the decisions that brought it here.

With Mercedes power, Alpine finally has a reference point it has lacked in recent years – a benchmark engine around which it can build without compromise, plus rivals using the same internal heart to compare with.

Last year’s car was plagued by inconsistencies with both its balance and tyre usage. But Briatore believes the team may have turned a corner. “I believe Alpine will really come back in performance this year,” he said. “If the car is bad, it is our fault. We did not have any problems building this car. We had the budget.”