Alpine 2026 Preview: The only way is up
- Jason Sharp
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Written by Jason Sharp, Edited by Meghana Sree
As we count down to Formula One's 2026 season opener, our F1 writers preview each team's potential, expectations and goals ahead of the start of a new regulatory era for the sport. Can Alpine use this rulebook overhaul and a new engine partnership to re-establish themselves and climb the order?
2025 saw not just the worst season for Alpine, but for team Enstone entirely in all their history and names held. There was a brutal driver swap, a team principal departure, routinely the slowest car on the grid and an end result of last in the Constructors' Championship.
The only way is up for Alpine in 2026, a team that has not won a championship since their rebrand. This is a year of reset — out with the old car and in with fresh regulations and a brand new engine partnership. They have valuable stability in their driver lineup and have had a long preparation period to help them climb the order.
Stability in the driver lineup
The team will retain the same driver lineup that they ended their 2025 campaign with: Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, who replaced the underperforming Jack Doohan after just six rounds last year. As a result, this will be the Argentine’s first full season in Formula One, although he now has 27 Grands Prix under his belt from 2025 and for Williams during the second half of 2024.
Colapinto needs to impress this year; he is no longer a replacement driver and is comfortable within the team. The 22-year-old will be hoping for a car that can showcase his talent to prove he is worthy of staying in F1. He has a strong following and an adoring home crowd, given that he is the first Argentine F1 driver since Gastón Mazzacane in 2001.
Gasly is beginning his fourth season with the team and his tenth in F1. The Frenchman markets the brand well and is now truly established as the team leader, being a proven race winner with five podium finishes to his name. He embarked on his journey with Alpine in 2023 to further his career after leaving the Red Bull family.
Gasly has finished on the podium twice for Alpine and has been in the points numerous times, but after two disappointing seasons in a row, he will be expecting a car that can deliver strong results if he is to stay loyal to Alpine.
While the drivers will be fighting to beat each other on track, they will be pushing just as hard to propel the team forward.
What we learned from testing
With testing now concluded, it is clear that Alpine are in a much stronger position than they have been in the last couple of years. Overall, they amassed a total of 667 laps, 318 in week one, and 359 in week two, showing that the new Mercedes power unit has been integrated well and is reliable.
The Alpine car was noteworthy in the test for having very limited cooling outlets. This is a common theme among the Mercedes-powered cars but Alpine seems to have the most drastic example. This shows that the team have utilised their large amount of wind tunnel time and could likely result in their cars having the lowest drag.
It’s the same story for their rear wing. While it might not be as extreme as Ferrari’s concept, it’s a distinctive philosophy that drops downwards instead of lifting up like their rivals’ do. Time will tell if this is the best solution, but it shows that the team is able to innovate and not play catch up.
There’s now a sense of cautious optimism for the blue and pink outfit, as the testing times show that they could well be at the front of the mid-field. Gasly posted a time of 1:33.421 on the final day, which was the fifth fastest overall team time just behind the big four. This looks to be the most drastic jump of any team on the grid ahead of this season.
Of course, it is only testing and there is no way of knowing true performance until we hit qualifying in Melbourne, but Alpine at the very least have shown that they have a solid baseline and are far away from the disaster of 2025.
Team expectations for 2026
Alpine has put so much emphasis into this regulation reset as 2025 was so quickly deemed a write-off. While performance and results cannot be any worse than last year, the team is under pressure to deliver with this brand new concept of car.
Flavio Briatore is the man that continues leading the team after Oliver Oaks’ mid-season departure last year. He is the man that once led this team to championship glory, and will accept nothing less than excellence.
This new era of F1 means a new era for Alpine. They have ditched Renault as their engine supplier after underperforming throughout the hybrid era. This means that they are no longer a works team, which has hurt their identity, but the Mercedes engine is already looking to have improved their performance.
This year is a brand new start for team Enstone and will be a case of how they cement themselves, how far they can climb and how much work there is to do in order to win again.
