Why Alpine believes 2025 discoveries can be benefitted from with Mercedes power

In many respects, 2025 has been a frustrating year for Alpine. The team decided early on to shift its full focus to the 2026 Formula 1 regulations and therefore to virtually abandon the development of the A525.

Alpine admitted it was surprised by some of its rivals, who continued to introduce upgrades even late in the season. That, combined with a Renault engine that was still lacking some outright power, made the year challenging on two fronts: results-wise and, linked to that, mentally.

Behind the scenes, however, some developments were more positive than last place in the constructors’ standings would suggest. First, Pierre Gasly’s performances deserve mention. The Frenchman did not have the material to shine, but developed himself as a team leader and was able to capitalise on the rare opportunities that did arise – for example, his fourth-place starting position in Bahrain, sixth at Silverstone and three Q3 appearances in the final four rounds of 2025.

“I’ve scored the least amount of points in my F1 career, but personally I feel I’ve put in a strong performance. It doesn’t really bring any satisfaction, so I’m just very happy to move away from this year,” Gasly said at the end of last season.

While that sentiment is understandable given the results, it does not tell the whole story. Yes, Gasly and Alpine want to move on from a difficult year, but that doesn’t mean there are no lessons to be taken from 2025. It applies both to Gasly’s own development – where he tried to grow outside the car as well by keeping the team motivated – and to several collective steps made by the Enstone-based squad.

Operationally stronger thanks to a poor car?

Those latter aspects did not come to the surface in 2025, but Alpine believes it can reap the benefits if the car is more competitive this season.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been with the work we’re putting in with the team and all the preparation,” Gasly explained. “The work with the guys, like getting the car in a good place with mappings, set-up – it’s obviously been three years with the team, so they’ve got a good understanding of what I want.

“We have a forum where we’re quite honest with each other, but there’s no finger pointing. We’re just honest in assessing our own performance. Obviously, when you’re 10th, you can’t really hide things, and I think it almost helped us as a team to be more objective about what we do well and what we need to improve. I think, moving forward, this season has definitely made us stronger as a team.”

When asked in which areas it could be most valuable in 2026, the Frenchman continued:

“Communication and awareness of what we’ve got to improve, what we’re good at, and how we can become even better. I think we’ve tried to push all that stuff as much as we could within the limitations of the package we had this year.”

In that sense, the poor car actually helped in a way: because Alpine lacked outright pace, the team explored the operational limits more than before.

“When you’re lacking overall performance, you dig quite deep into these small details that don’t make much difference. I think we took things quite to the extreme in the way we do mappings and the set-up, the work we do at the factory, how much debriefing we have, and how deep we go into things. I must say it’s the best work I’ve done with the team.”

It has taught Alpine more than before how to extract the maximum from its own package. In 2025, that was often still not enough to score points, but in 2026 – ideally with a better engine – things should change. Gasly added: “It’s not like we were miles away from everyone; it’s just that we were on the wrong end of the midfield. And yeah, in terms of actual work as a team, that’s what brings me quite a lot of confidence. If we get the car to a good place, I think we have the right processes in place to actually perform.”

Team-mate Franco Colapinto shares that view: “I think it’s very simple: I think from the lows you learn the most. This year we had a lot of lows and that’s led to a very good learning and a very good understanding of things.”

The Argentinian was pleasantly surprised that the team still saw positives in 2025.

“Not giving up and keep pushing in difficult moments, that was the one thing I was really surprised with,» Colapinto said. «When it’s not going well or not going as you expect, it’s tricky to keep the motivation up and to keep going week after week to find new things.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

“But I saw that from the team. That was very impressive and something that I think is going to bring a lot of good results when the car is competitive. The team also deserves that, hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.”

Gasly, for his part, cannot wait for that moment. With a Mercedes engine and the lessons from last year, a step needs to be made in 2026. Amid all discussions about the new regulations and whether they will produce good racing, the Frenchman makes very clear that after eight seasons in F1, there’s only one thing that matters to him – winning. The entertainment value is secondary.

“I don’t enjoy being in the position I was in last season, and I know I will enjoy being at the front of the field. Even if the racing wouldn’t be the most entertaining, we would still be the best of everyone driving these cars, right?” Gasly said.

“I’m sure guys like [Fernando] Alonso or Lewis [Hamilton] can say that back in 2007, they used to drive the car in a very different way than they did in 2014, when the new engine came in. And again, very different from what they did in 2021. So, as a driver, you always have to adapt to these regulation changes.

“There are many factors to take into consideration, but if you ask me, I just want to be at the front of the field. I’ve been in F1 long enough, I’ve had a few podiums, and I’ve had a race win, but I know that from a competitive point of view I want to be fighting with those guys that I see up front, which I know I can fight.”

Whether the material will be good enough in 2026 remains to be seen, but at the start of F1’s new era, Alpine is at least looking at things slightly more positively than last year: it hopes to reap the operational rewards of the toughest season the team has faced.

Combined with a new engine, that should at least deliver a step forward in 2026. In Viry, some doors have closed, but Alpine and Gasly hope that the path to success is finally opening as a result of that.

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— The Autosport.com Team