Alpine entered 2026 carrying the fallout from a miserable 2025 campaign that left the Enstone team bottom of the constructors’ standings, with Pierre Gasly accounting for all 22 points while rookies Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto failed to produce top‑10 finishes. That on‑track decline followed years of leadership churn — Marcin Budkowski departed in January 2022, Otmar Szafnauer was removed after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Bruno Famin left in 2024, Oliver Oakes led then exited mid‑2025, and Flavio Briatore moved in as executive advisor and de facto leader — and Briatore has set a hardline tone, privately and publicly warning there are “no more excuses.” He now effectively co‑leads the team alongside managing director Steve Nielsen and has made the engine supply switch a central plank of his plan to restore competitiveness.

As part of that reset Alpine controversially shut down Renault’s Viry powertrain plant and announced it will use Mercedes power units for 2026, a decision that has prompted protests and debate amid a compression‑ratio controversy but which the team argues could offer an advantage under the new regulations. Alpine revealed its 2026 challenger, the A526, aboard the MSC World Europa with Briatore, Nielsen, technical director Davide Sanchez and drivers Gasly and Colapinto in attendance, and completed an initial shakedown at Silverstone after postponing an earlier Barcelona test because of complications with the Mercedes engine. The team is now heading to pre‑season testing in Barcelona next week, with the engine change, new regulations and early running of the A526 framed as the immediate tests of whether the package can close the gap to the front.

Alpine has publicly set a target of at least a top‑five finish in the constructors’ standings, but leaders caution the reset may not succeed and have warned that further organizational instability could follow if results do not improve. The timing of tests — including Williams’ absence from the first pre‑season test — may create short‑term competitive openings, yet the true measure of progress will arrive once the season begins and the team’s collaboration with Mercedes is tested in race conditions. Taken together, the leadership overhaul and the switch to Mercedes power units represent a high‑stakes technical and managerial gamble designed to halt Alpine’s slide and attempt a revival in 2026.

Sources