Alpine's bold gamble on Mercedes power is already paying off, proving Flavio Briatore right! The team's transition to Mercedes as its Formula 1 engine supplier for the 2026 season has been met with early signs of success, a move that Briatore himself championed as essential for Alpine's resurgence.
This strategic shift, initiated by Alpine's parent company Renault, involved a controversial decision to discontinue their in-house engine project and instead become a customer of Mercedes. This move wasn't without its detractors; many Renault engine staff at the time felt it was a betrayal of their efforts. However, with Mercedes widely expected to boast the benchmark power unit in 2026, this partnership could be the catalyst Alpine desperately needs to climb the standings, especially after finishing at the very bottom last year.
The first tangible evidence of this new era came during the shakedown of their new A526 car at Silverstone. For Briatore, a seasoned veteran of Formula 1, the experience was remarkably different from what he's encountered before.
But here's where it gets fascinating... The new car, driven by Pierre Gasly, managed to complete 140km despite challenging wet conditions. The team was only prevented from reaching the 200km target for a filming day due to fading light. Briatore highlighted the unusual silence in the garage as a positive indicator of the car and power unit's smooth operation. He explained, "There was aquaplaning, so it made no sense to risk the car. It was easy to do the 140km, and the first time in my long experience in F1, the car went out, came back, went out and never came back." He elaborated, "Normally they have the oil pressure [sensor] or temperature [problem] and talk over the radio, but everybody was quiet. This was good news that nobody was talking. When the people are not talking, we're doing well."
And this is the part most people miss... For Briatore, who joined as an executive advisor in 2024, partnering with Mercedes was non-negotiable. He revealed that his primary condition for joining Alpine was the switch to a Mercedes engine. "With Luca de Meo, when we were talking about joining the team; [the] only one condition for me to join the team was to have a Mercedes engine. It was not Plan B. There was only one plan. I want a Mercedes engine completely - it was the only way to come back. In this moment, you need to be with the best people, and the people of Mercedes, since we started working together…it’s a super, super relationship. This is what we're looking for." When asked about other potential manufacturers, Briatore was unequivocal: "No. I want to have the discussions always with the best. With the second best, I'm not interested."
The reliability advantage is a significant early win. While Alpine achieved 140km, the Mercedes works team managed the full 200km during their shakedown. This early reliability from a power unit expected to be the performance benchmark is a huge bonus for customer teams, aiding them in gathering crucial early mileage for the 2026 cars.
Alpine's Executive Technical Director, David Sanchez, echoed this sentiment, stating that hitting the 200km mark would have been straightforward without the weather. "Out of the box, being able to clock laps and not stopping, is a good confidence boost that you can at least turn up at Barcelona and get on with the work," he noted. He added, "We wanted to do the 200km. When we started the day on Wednesday we went straight away on a five or six-lap run, and the car ran well. Then we stopped, waited for the weather to move, but it never really went away. So when it came mid-afternoon we thought 'right, what do we do? We've got to go out'. So we sent Pierre out, just kept him on track, and he just kept lapping and lapping. We just stopped because he told us 'it's getting dark now', and he struggled to see. I think getting to 200km would've been pretty easy. So, it just gives a bit of confidence you can go into Barcelona and out of the box start to clock a few laps."
Alpine plans to join the Barcelona shakedown on Monday, with their subsequent run plans influenced by the weather. Beyond the technical aspects, Sanchez praised the relationship with Mercedes: "We're working in the most open-minded manner. We've got very good interactions. The integration of that power unit was pretty good, and now we'll work our way through fixing all the little gremlins and focusing on reliability and integration."
Briatore firmly believes that if Alpine falters this season, the blame will lie solely with the team, given their ample budget, manpower, and technology. When asked to define success, he stated, "Bad job: a good example was last year. A good job is to be fighting every race to be in the points; to be in the first six, seven, every race. And then maybe some races when something goes wrong [for others], maybe a little bit better. At least we have a solid base. You don't build up a house in the sand. We need to start at one point. That's what we have."
What do you think? Was Renault's decision to switch engine suppliers the right move, or a risky gamble that could backfire? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
