Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen has identified what he described as the “biggest single weakness” on the team’s 2026 Formula 1 challenger.
The A526 has given the Enstone-based squad a marked improvement on 2025 already, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto amassing 16 points after three Grands Prix so far.
Not only is this the same points as Red Bull so far, but is only six points off its total 2025 haul.
An early abandonment of the 2025 car, and early work towards the A526, already shown a huge advantage, but the car also has the added benefit of the Mercedes power unt, having given-up its manufacturer status via Renault.
This has placed the team firmly in contention for midfield supremacy, battling alongside Haas and Racing Bulls.
But Nielsen has spied one area that could be holding back the team from challenging even further, revealing after the Japanese Grand Prix a specific Achilles’ heel.
“We’ve got some problems with high-speed understeer, which we need to fix,” he said.
“High-speed changes in direction, that’s probably the biggest single weakness on the car we’ve got this year.
“So we knew coming here, Sector 1 would be tricky, and it is. It manifests itself as understeer. So we have high-speed understeer. We saw some of that in Bahrain.
“I think that’s the biggest overriding factor, honestly. Other than that, everything’s pretty good, as I say, long runs, high fuel, looks good, looks competitive compared with the people that we’re up against.”
There is no doubt that Alpine is rapidly improving, giving Gasly a vehicle worthy of his talents, particularly after outperforming the A525 several times last season.
But it will need to be vigilant in all areas as its rivals will also be improving as the landscape of the unpredictability that the new regulations cycle brings.
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