Franco Colapinto insists Alpine on plan ahead of 2026 reset

Franco Colapinto says he’s excited to be experiencing pre-season preparations with a team for the first time in his career.

The Argentine driver believes the Alpine A526 is set to be a far more competitive machine than its predecessor and, combined with going through pre-season preparations for the first time, is excited for a more “positive” 2026 season.

Franco Colapinto: Alpine believes 2026 will be better in performance

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The Enstone-based squad endured a difficult season with a truculent A525, having decided from early on to forgo significant development and, instead, focus its efforts on the regulation revolution for 2026.

Combined with a switch to Mercedes power after closing down its Renault F1 engine programme, Alpine was one of a small handful of teams to focus on the low-hanging fruit that the new regulations provide, rather than working hard on infinitesimal gains with the mature regulations of 2025.

Franco Colapinto, who made his debut with Williams in 2023, replaced Australian driver Jack Doohan after six rounds of the championship but, like Doohan, failed to make much impression on the remainder of the season as Colapinto failed to score any points.

Given his lack of experience, in a car that was lacking performance in the first place, Colapinto’s job was only made more difficult by the fact that he was having to play a big game of catch-up as he debuted for the Alpine team at Imola, having not taken part in any pre-season preparations that allowed him to have already found a base level of comfort with the car.

For 2026, that all changes. Colapinto has secured an extension for 2026 and, for the first time in his career, will go through pre-season preparations with the team he will race for.

Combined with the fact that it’s a clean slate for all the drivers as the regulations change, the Argentine said he’s feeling far more excited about the prospects of ’26 than the difficulties he endured for most of ’25.

“I’m really looking forward to 2026, to be honest,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the end of the 2025 season.

“Especially like just having a normal year, starting with a pre-season test, and being able to work with a car from scratch is quite nice and quite different from what I’m used to coming in the middle of the season without knowing many things, and without being on top of many things that the drivers have been doing since the start of the year.

“So I think it’s gonna be very helpful. I’m looking forward to that, to find that luxury.

“So I’m definitely looking forward to ’26, I think the car is looking more competitive, and when you can compete a bit more up there, it’s also nicer for the driver.

“We do believe that this is going to be a better year in terms of performance and that we are going to have more opportunities.”

Given that the cars are yet to hit the track for the first time, Colapinto was asked why he believes the new Alpine F1 car will be more competitive.

“More than anything, it is focusing on ourselves, just fixing all the issues that we had this year, and the main part is that we know that a lot of our problems are fixed with next year’s car,” he said.

“We’ve been working on the specific areas of the car that have been a bit weak. Knowing that we improved those, I think, makes me quite confident that we are gonna be stronger.

“There are a lot of changes, and the guys in the factory have been working a lot. So I think it’s looking positive at the moment.

“Of course, we need to see where the others are, but on our side, we’ve done the best possible. Actually, we learned a lot from our previous cars to understand what direction we need to take.”

Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen and racing director Dave Greenwood shared Colapinto’s cautious optimism.

“At the end of the day, that’s the stopwatch. I hope so,” Nielsen told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when asked if he believes his team has something of a ‘headstart’ on rivals.

“I think we’ve done all the right things. The chassis has passed its crash tests. It’s lighter, it’s stronger. Looks good, but every team that builds a new car will tell you it’s good. What actually decides it is what happens on the circuit.”

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Asked where the team is at in terms of its preparations for 2026, with the new car set to be revealed on the 23rd of January, Greenwood revealed that the Enstone squad is feeling optimistic.

“I think every team has milestones that they’re ticking through. We’re very happy with where we are,” he said.

“We’re not going to go into too much detail, but we’re absolutely on plan, on track for everything we need!”

This includes the challenge of meeting the new minimum weight limit of 770kg, although Greenwood opted against confirming just how close Alpine will get to this to start the year.

“I think most people have been on record to say it’s challenging, but that, again, is a challenge that our design team back at base takes with the sort of energy and vigour to try and meet it,” he said.

“I wouldn’t like to quote numbers of where we’re at, but we’re happy, and we know we’re doing the best job we can to hit what’s quite an aggressive target, but not an unachievable one.”

Colapinto confirmed that, as and from the 1st of January, he will be flat-out at the Enstone factory working on preparations for the pre-season tests in Barcelona and Bahrain.

“It’s gonna be a lot more work than normal, I think,” he said.

“But that’s also nice for us drivers, especially the new ones. We enjoy that, and it helps us. I think we need that extra running and that extra experience for it, so it’s gonna be helpful. Hopefully, the car is competitive, and we can be up there.”

Given that Colapinto’s 2025 started with him playing catch-up, in a year in which even the experienced Pierre Gasly struggled to achieve points in the same machine, the season can’t be said to be one Colapinto will look back on with much fondness.

But, despite this, he explained that there were lessons there to be learned, and he’s determined to apply them to his first full season in the sport.

“It’s very simple. I think from the lows is when you learn the most,” he said.

“This year, we had a lot of lows, and that’s been a very good learning and a very good understanding of things.

“Since I joined, we have taken big steps in terms of how to help me feel better and more comfortable with the car, not really giving up and keeping pushing in the difficult moments.

“One thing I was really surprised by, when it’s not going well or as you expect or as you want, it’s tricky to keep the motivation up and going week after week, trying to perform and find new things.

“I saw that from the team. So that was, to me, very impressive, and something that I think, when the car is competitive, it’s gonna bring a lot of cool results to the team, because they deserve it. Hopefully, it comes sooner rather than later.”

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