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Alpine launched their brand-new Formula 1 car for the upcoming campaign today in an event located in Barcelona, on a cruise ship supplied by one of the team’s biggest partners.
Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were present to unveil Alpine’s new challenger, which has been built in line with the new regulations that are set to shake up the Formula 1 grid in 2026.
The launch event also marked Alpine’s first year of collaboration with Mercedes as their engine supplier.
Just hours before the event, Mercedes were cleared of any wrongdoing by the FIA amid the ongoing controversy regarding an exploit in engine compression ratios.
Following Flavio Briatore’s decision to remain with Gasly and Colapinto as their duo to lead the French constructor’s charge, he issued an ominous verdict on what he expects from them this year.
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Flavio Briatore reiterates what he expects from Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto this season
During the launch event, team principal Briatore was asked about his expectations for the driver lineup he has put his faith in again for the upcoming term.
The Italian executive highlighted how they no longer have the excuse of switching focus to the new regulations to fall back on this year.
Briatore said, “This is a difficult question. I expect the best; there are no more excuses this year. We have a brand new car and the same drivers.
“For Franco this year, I promise you he’s done a very good winter, and I hope he gets some much better results. He’s ready to compete with Pierre.
“We need two drivers competing for the team, and to grow, we need the performance of the drivers. Whatever an engineer is doing, the final bit is done by the driver. Pierre and Franco are friends working together.”
Following a brief moment where Colapinto amusingly put his arms around his Alpine counterpart, Briatore continued, “For the moment, you are friends. After two or three races, maybe the friendship is better or worse, it depends.
“But yes, we have two good drivers, a good car, a super sponsor, so the package has all come together for us to become successful.”
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Alpine are looking to improve on their last-place finish in the constructors’ standings last season
Briatore’s comments are no doubt a nod towards the awful performance that the Enstone-based outfit displayed during last year’s campaign.
Since their rebrand of the Renault F1 outfit ahead of the 2021 season, last year marked Alpine’s most disappointing season yet as they languished at the bottom of the constructors’ championship with just 22 points to their name.
Gasly proved to be the only Alpine driver who was capable of securing points for them in 2025, which threw some major question marks over Colapinto’s position as a full-time driver for the team.
Briatore certainly isn’t short of options if he does pull the plug on the Colapinto project, but the young Argentine will be hoping to cement his spot on the grid with a string of good results to start the season.
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