Since joining Alpine for the 2023 Formula 1 season, Pierre Gasly has consistently outperformed his teammates, shining even though Alpine have had one of the slowest cars on the grid. Through the struggles, the French driver still chose to extend his contract by two years this past September.
Following a brutally difficult 2025, Alpine’s management, led by Flavio Briatore, opted to abandon their in-house engines for performance gains. The swift decision to switch to Mercedes aimed to boost Alpine’s results and adapt to the current regulation set.
The French driver’s contract was set to expire at the end of the 2026 season. However, Gasly appeared quite keen to extend his contract through 2028, a decision that many questioned at the time. But perhaps reviewing data on A526 and the Mercedes engine were convincing factors in committing to two more seasons with a struggling team.
Gasly's questioned decision has begun to pay off
To start the 2026 season, the A526 has been rather strong, with the team moving up to seventh in the constructor standings after a last-place finish a year ago.
Gasly himself sits in P7 in the world championship standings with nine points, ahead of both Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Oscar Piastri. No one could have predicted that the 30-year-old would sit higher in the standings over two of the top three drivers in the 2025 world championship battle.
While we are only two races into the season, the picture has become clearer regarding the hierarchy of teams. With just one more race weekend until an unplanned one-month pause until the Miami Grand Prix due to two race cancelations, Alpine could look to implement some upgrades through testing in April.
As for Gasly, he clearly has more confidence with a better car and hopes to achieve more points finishes throughout the 2026 season. Given the fact that these regulations also call for energy management to be added to the strategy, some refinement could potentially even lead to podium finishes, if the circumstances fall in the Frenchman’s favor.
Nevertheless, the A526 is quite an improvement over its predecessors. With the Enstone-based team having gotten this regulation set right, the hope is that they can maintain this level and even push themselves forward over the next few seasons of Gasly’s tenure.