Franco Colapinto and the Alpine of 2026: what to expect?

Next season there will be new technical regulations and the weak A525 will be forgotten. The Enstone team will start from the strong decisions made by Flavio Briatore. Will successes come?

Franco Colapinto will be the first Argentine to compete in the first round of an F1 season since Gastón Mazzacane did so in 2001. The place will be the same: Australia, in Melbourne Park. It will also transform into eHe is the first driver from his country to have a presence in at least three consecutive World Championship seasons since Carlos Alberto Reutemann. Until then, statistical data. The big question floating in the air is: what awaits you in the new season?

It is known, The World Championship will release technical regulations in 2026 and the cars and engines will be changed. Two crucial decisions were made from Alpine: the Viry power unit program was closed to be Mercedes customers and the entire 2025 effort was allocated to the development of the chassis for the next tournament, even throwing away the current exercise.

The two important decisions were made by Flavio Briatore, the man who resisted the departure of Luca de Meo from the presidency of Renault (he was the one who brought him back to F1) and remained the boss of Alpine. The Piedmontese’s bet is not minor: he played all-in for success in 2026. Nobody knows, for sure, what will happen in the next World Cup. Speculation suggests that Mercedes will have the best engine, suspecting that it is based more on the fact that the Germans dominated the current era of V6 turbo hybrids, than on constant and sound information about the future. As for the chassis, all eyes are on Aston Martin, because behind the design is Adrian Newey, the Formula 1 guru.

In that context and with the two decisions that Briatore made, Alpine will have no margin for error. Fundamentally, Flavo himself could falter if, after the first part of the tournament, the Enstone team failed to add consistently and even fight for podiums. El Rombo is still on the F1 ship, despite the rumors that there were this year about a possible sale of the team. “Formula 1 is part of our core strategy for Alpine and I have no intention of changing it. The absolute priority of the Formula 1 team is performance, improving it this year and, of course, succeeding in 2026 with the new car,” Francosi Provost, the CEO, warned in August.

Of course they all go for the same goal: to be competitive. But in the case of Alpine there will be no excuses. Briatore’s decision left Colapinto and Pierre Gasly struggling with a car with chronic problems and supine weakness in 2025, which left them light years away from any fight.

If the French engineer David Sanchez, with a past at Ferrari and current technical director of Alpine, hits the right note with the chassis and Mercedes presents a competitive engine, the reality of Colapinto will be diametrically different from this year. Of course, there the Argentine will have to demonstrate. Beyond the financial contribution that it brings to the team’s coffers, if the car is to finish in the points zone, it must end there. If the car allows you to fight for podiums, then it should take some trophies. His internal battle with Gasly will also be key and there is one fact that should not be ignored: Franco will participate in preseason rehearsals. That is, he will have the same driving hours as the Frenchman in the new car and the pressure for results (if the project is successful) will increase.

Colapinto’s sporting future will depend on the machine he has. It’s motorsport, nothing is discovered. If it doesn’t work, the explanations will have to be given by others. If it goes well, you should squeeze it out. That simple, that difficult. It’s Formula 1.