Alpine is the fourth team to complete the first few meters with its new Formula 1 car for 2026: Pierre Gasly completes first laps in rainy weather
Before Alpine unveils its new design for the 2026 Formula 1 season on Friday, the A526 has already completed its first kilometers: Less than a week before the start of the joint shakedown of all Formula 1 teams in Barcelona, Alpine took to the track at Silverstone on Wednesday.
Pierre Gasly was given the opportunity to conduct his own shakedown for the French racing team on a rainy day. The team’s headquarters in Enstone are only about 40 kilometers away from the British Grand Prix circuit.
Of course, special attention was also paid to the new Mercedes power unit that will power Alpine this year. Its partner Renault has closed its own engine department for the new 2026 engine era. Alpine is already the fourth Formula 1 team to put its new car on the track, following Audi (Barcelona), Cadillac (Silverstone), and Racing Bulls (Imola). The French team’s car featured a similar paint job to last year’s. We will find out what the design for 2026 will look like on Friday when the official presentation takes place. The event will be held on a cruise ship off the coast of Barcelona as part of the partnership with MSC.
Away from last place?
Alpine is coming off what is probably the most difficult season in the team’s history, as the team finished the 2025 Formula 1 season in last place – almost 50 points behind Sauber, which finished second to last.
The team had already stopped development of the A525 at the beginning of June in order to focus fully on the 2026 regulations. The aim is to benefit from the profound changes to the chassis and engines.
Steve Nielsen, Alpine’s managing director, explained at the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi that the priority for 2026 is to be significantly more consistently competitive and to be among the frontrunners in the midfield.
“I want to fight for points every week,” he said. ” We only managed to do that on a few weekends this year, but far too often we were way down at the back of the field. That’s not where this team belongs, it’s not in keeping with the Enstone tradition and it’s not what we want. We need to be fighting for points in the upper midfield every weekend.”
With Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, Alpine is sticking with the same driver combination as last year.
