In the middle of a floating amphitheater, docked in the port of Barcelona and with the Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop, a black canvas outlined the silhouette of a single-seater, still hidden. A new car awaited beneath her, but also a new hope full of uncertainty, with the challenge of straightening a project that has just hit rock bottom. chose the MSC World Europe cruise ship to present the A526, the single-seater with which it faces the 2026 season after closing the last Formula 1 Constructors’ World Cup in last position. In the unique setting, with Pierre Gasly present on stage, discovering the car under the blanket, a message was repeated: “There are no more excuses.” The phrase, pronounced by Flavio Briatore, the team’s executive advisor, set the tone of the presentation. “The game remains the same: go very fast,” concluded the Italian businessman, who returned to F1 in 2024 after 15 years away due to his expulsion from the premier category due to crashgate.
His words served as the guiding thread of an act marked by the new technical regulations, one of the most profound that has been experienced in the Great Circus. Smaller and lighter cars, regulated active aerodynamics, greater electrical prominence in power units and the use of sustainable fuels. “We have the same budget as the others. We have had the same resources and more time than the rest to develop this car. That is why there is no excuse,” stressed David Sánchez, executive technical director of Alpine. “For everyone, the goal is to be champion. But now it is very difficult to know where we will be. I am sure that we will be competitive,” Briatore insisted.
Before about 300 guests – and for the first time with a car presented on a cruise ship – Alpine tried to turn the page on a transitional 2025, in which the team decided to soon abandon the development of the A525 to concentrate efforts on the new regulations. The result was a dark season, closed with only 22 points, all signed by Gasly. “We stopped developing the car quickly because we saw that the car was not good enough,” Briatore explained.
The aesthetics of the A526 are recognizable, with blue and pink the dominant colors from 2022. But the real change is under the paint. “It’s the first time in my career that the entire car has undergone such profound changes,” Gasly shared. “It’s very different from everything I’ve known before,” “it’s a little new for everyone, and that can surely balance things out a little.” [entre los pilotos]”.
A great novelty is hidden under the chassis. Alpine stops manufacturing its engines at the Viry-Châtillon factory to become a customer of Mercedes, which will supply the power unit and gearbox. The regulation reinforces the role of the engine, with an electrical contribution that is close to 50% of the total power. “Our biggest work focused on the power unit and its integration,” Sánchez confessed.
Colapinto has been able to participate in the development of the car. The Argentine, whom Briatore claims to see as more mature, although he pointed out the classification as his main aspect to improve, faces his first full season in F1 after two years marked by mid-course substitutions. The first, with Williams, and then, with Alpine, with which he did not score any points. “It is very important for me because I feel really involved in the project and it allows me to work hard from the beginning with the entire team,” Colapinto explained. “We improved the car, but it is difficult to know where the other teams or drivers are going to be. We have very little information. We will see where we are when the season starts,” added the Argentine, cautious but excited.
From the 26th to the 30th, Alpine will run the A526 in the first pre-season tests at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, before the Bahrain tests in February, where the teams will begin to show their true cards. “It will depend on the strategy with which each team has developed its launch car,” Sánchez explained about the differences that can be seen between cars.
The answers will begin to arrive in Australia, from March 6 to 8, when the championship starts, and then, with the evolutions during the season. Until then, Alpine throws out the excuses. The answers will come on the track.
