A new era for Alpine in 2026

Will Alpine reach the top again in 2026? Twenty years after its first driver and constructor titles under the Renault name, the team based in Enstone is determined to reclaim this past glory as quickly as possible. These ambitions are often proclaimed but have never materialized. Indeed, since its return to Formula 1 in 2016 after the acquisition of the Lotus team, Renault (renamed Alpine from 2021) has repeatedly set the goal of winning races and world titles. However, eight years later, the team is still far from meeting its ambitions and has only won one race, in Hungary in 2021, thanks to Esteban Ocon.

This season, the project seemed to be at its lowest when Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon found themselves on the last row during the first race in Bahrain. While there was concern at the beginning of the year, hope has since reappeared within the team thanks to a very good end of the season. While the team had only collected 14 points during the first 20 races, they obtained 51 in the last four races, including the double podium in Brazil. While 2025 will probably not see Alpine become world champion, the 2026 season could offer an opportunity.

A turbulent 2026 already underway at Alpine

First of all, F1 will then embark on a true regulatory revolution with cars that are very different from those we currently know. Secondly, Alpine will become a customer team of Mercedes for engines. For David Sanchez, executive director, the team can no longer look for excuses: it must be capable of performing in 2026, like McLaren this season with an engine supplied by the German company.

Alpine must perform in 2026 with the Mercedes engine.

« From now on, whether you are a customer or an official team, the engines must offer the same performance », the Frenchman told Autosport. According to him, not designing your own engine does not mean being slower than the factory teams. « Then, in terms of design and integration, all engines are now very well designed. And with the current aerodynamic regulations, there are a few deliberately large legal areas so as not to favor one engine manufacturer over another. So I think today, no matter what engine you have in the car, you can be a customer team and be very competitive. »

For the former aerodynamics expert at Ferrari, 2026 will be a real turning point and Alpine must be ready by then. To achieve this, the team is already actively preparing for that deadline. « When I look at how we are preparing for 2026, I see no fundamental weakness that would handicap us that year. Therefore, I think that in 2026, we can aim to do things well. »

If all the teams have been able to start working on the design of the 2026 car since January 1st, the engineers still need to work on the 2025 one while the season starts in less than two months.

Sacrifice the 2025 season to bet everything on 2026?

If many teams prefer to focus on 2026 even if it means sacrificing their 2025 season, Alpine and its director Oliver Oakes do not share this view. "I want a clear objective: 'We are here to race. We are not going to accept being at the back of the grid. We are in the middle of the grid and eventually at the front of the grid – but this doesn't happen overnight, not in six months, nor in twelve months.' You have to decide, as a team director, if you set aside 2025 to focus solely on 2026 and 2027. But I don't think anyone does that in F1 because everyone wants to race, everyone is pushing."

Although the next season is very similar to 2024 in terms of technical regulations, it could be very different on the track. The 2026 revolution poses a dilemma for all teams: should they focus solely on 2026 and compromise the upcoming season, or continue their development in 2025 even if it means falling behind on the 2026 project? A question that could shake up the hierarchy and benefit certain teams like Alpine.