Alpine boss Steve Nielsen has said the team is “nervous” over its unique interpretation of Formula 1 rear-wing design for 2026.
The 2026 technical regulations have provided a clean slate for all the 11 teams on the grid.
Innovative designs would be the norm given how each team is looking to make that one breakthrough design choice that propels them towards the front of the grid.
The Anglo-French marque are no different, but have decided to adopt its creativity with a more ‘conventional’ design element; the rear wing.
The all-new regulations have eliminated DRS and introduced active aerodynamics. Mimicking DRS in a way, the new cars would have both, its front and rear wing elements ‘open’ on the straights to reduce drag.
Alpine, however, have gone down a different design approach. Rather than having the rear wing slot-gap open, it collapses in ‘Straight Mode’.
Why F1 rear-wing trick makes Alpine nervous
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week, Nielsen admitted that it does make the team nervous, especially when no other team has decided to approach their rear-wing designs in a similar vein.
“Of course it does,” he admitted. “It would probably be a better question to answer later in the season, but when you’ve had the year we had last year, of course, you take comfort from that, and with the many.
“When something is unusual, it doesn’t mean that it is wrong, and we did it for our own reasons, but of course, you do think: ‘Wow, that’s not the same.’
“It is an obvious difference, but whether it is the right direction or the wrong direction, who knows?
“We are evaluating everything, absolutely everything, together with what we see on other cars.
“If we see something, we model it, and we try to reproduce it.”
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