As Flavio Briatore said at Alpine’s 2026 launch in Barcelona, his team has no more excuses. But rather than dreading the added pressure, a character-building 2025 has meant the team has been counting the days until it could finally show what it can do.
It was hard not to notice Alpine was in a buoyant mood as it kickstarted its new year on the MSC World Europa, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto taking the covers off the A526 under the crystal chandeliers of the cruise liner’s Panorama Lounge, a swanky amphitheatre located at the aft of the 333-metre behemoth.
This was the moment the venerable F1 team has been working towards for over a year, a new start as a Mercedes customer, freed of the often-troubled duality of its Enstone headquarters and its former power unit plant in Viry-Chatillon, which hadn’t received enough investment in recent years to be set up for success.
“Nobody is talking about engine anymore”
Alpine’s nadir arrived in 2025 when its power unit deficit was exposed by the closing up of the entire grid, and it prompted the team to abandon aero development very early on and throw all of its eggs in the basket of the 2026 rules reset.
Gasly scored all of Alpine’s 22 points, largely over the first half of the campaign, while Jack Doohan and his replacement Colapinto remained point-less.
It was by all accounts the correct decision given how much it stands to gain from F1’s biggest regulatory overhaul in generations. But that didn’t make its day-to-day existence any less painful, with the team counting down the days until 2025 was over, a 24-round campaign that felt like it was never going to end. “Emotionally, I think it was a very difficult decision to make. Let’s see, only the future tells if we are right or not,” said executive advisor Briatore on Friday.
Flavio Briatore, Alpine Team Principal
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
According to Gasly, that bruising experience brought the team closer together and allowed it to tidy up areas it could control, like its trackside operations. “I’ve been very impressed with the mindset and mentality of the team throughout the whole year,” he replied when Autosport asked him for the positive that came out of 2025. “I think we have a very strong bond inside the team between the whole staff and drivers. I think it definitely made us get stronger together and hopefully we’ll be able to display that. I fully believe in the team and the staff we have.
“The mindset at the factory, I’ve been there and the shifts the people are putting in are very impressive. And that’s what got us to the Silverstone [shakedown] with the car ready to go out there. We haven’t really been at the level that I wanted with that team since we arrived [in 2023] and I really hope that 2026 can be the year.”
The dawn of a new era has already given Alpine a spring in its step, and that’s partly because of the successful launch of the Mercedes power unit, even if it’s not yet clear whether or not the powerplant will be ahead of the competition as has often been suggested in the paddock.
“At least when I arrive at the race, I will not ask anymore how many tenths we are at a disadvantage,” said Briatore. “Nobody is talking about engines anymore. Nobody is talking about gearbox anymore. And now it’s our engineering, we put our act together to put the aerodynamics on the car, and then it’s up to the drivers. But at least we have two issues we don’t need to care about.”
According to technical director David Sanchez, having been able to complete a trouble-free 140km shakedown at a glacial Silverstone was a good start to the partnership, with only near red-flag conditions preventing Gasly from getting the full filming day allotment of 200km in.
“I think we have nine days of testing, so a lot will happen throughout those nine days. But out of the box, being able to clock laps and not stopping is a good confidence boost that you can at least turn up in Barcelona and get on with the work,” Sanchez explained.
Alpine A526 livery
Photo by: Alpine
But it would be all too easy to blame all of its recent troubles on the engine. With the power unit and gearbox now acquired externally, Enstone has been able to focus on getting its house in order on the chassis and aero side after a string of unimpressive seasons.
“To get back in the first five, six teams in Formula 1, you need to develop the car much earlier, like we’ve done with the 2026 car,” Briatore said. “Basically, we had a 2026 car in the wind tunnel on the 2nd of January, and we never took it out, so we have at least three or four months of advantage, with respect to everybody. And now we have the power. We have a quality of people in Enstone again. I’m happy and I’m just waiting for Monday [for the start of the Barcelona shakedown week] and for Bahrain and for Australia.”
One of Alpine’s priorities will be to get much more out of Colapinto. After two stints with Williams and Alpine stepping into a race seat mid-season, the 22-year-old Argentinian has finally had the benefit of a pre-season for what is set to be his maiden full-length campaign. But having been slotted in at the expense of Doohan, and having been on the receiving end of some tough love from Briatore already, Colapinto is well aware he must step up his game if he is to last the season.
“As a team there are no more excuses,” said Colapinto, who made a confident, eloquent impression during the car presentation and looked visibly brawnier compared to 12 months ago. “The power unit has changed and regulations have changed. We have to put the work and the performance in now. Last year we were focusing on 26 and now 26 has arrived. It is the moment to go and to get the results that the team deserves. They have been working hard and hopefully it is a fast car and we can have the results that we expect.
“For me, being able to work with the team since the start of the year and being able to focus on many more aspects was very important. It’s exciting to see how the team will develop the car, and the other day to see tears in their eyes when they put the car on track for the first time. There is a lot of work behind the scenes that not a lot of people see. It was the first time I saw that on a team, so it was a very special moment for me and for everyone at Alpine.”
When asked about his expectations for Colapinto, Briatore replied: “Franco last year was the first year in Formula 1. A lot of expectations and this and that. Everything was not managed properly. This year, you see the face of Franco, like he’s much more mature. No more like the child we had last year. And we spent a lot of time this winter with him.
Pierre Gasly & Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Alpine
“The problem of Franco was mostly qualifying, because in the race he was quick, like Pierre. He just needed to drive the car and qualify with the talent and not drive it emotionally. He’s growing as well, he’s very good in the factory. We spent a lot of time in the simulator. So, we’ve done everything possible.”
There is no place to hide this time, Alpine’s 2026 mantra echoed down the corridors of the World Europa. Yes, that means the pressure is on. But after a disastrous 2025, that’s exactly the kind of opportunity the team has been crying out for.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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