Alpine reaches pre-season landmark as A526 fire-up completed
Alpine will launch the A526 on January 23rd.
Alpine has shared a video of its new car, the A526, being fired up from inside its factory at Enstone.
While, naturally, the team did not include any close-up footage of the car itself ahead of its launch, the video showed its factory team working together as the fire-up was conducted.
Alpine: ‘A526 is alive’ as fire-up completed
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Aston Martin revealed its first fire-up was completed prior to the team’s winter shutdown, and Alpine has become the second team to publicly share a fire-up video ahead of Formula 1’s new era.
Alpine is utilising Mercedes power for the first time, after the team confirmed it would move to customer status after plans changed over creating its own power unit for 2026.
The sound of the Mercedes power unit in 2026 was already known, after the team shared a clip of its engine note prior to Christmas in giving a glimpse into how the cars of the future will sound.
The fire-up represents an important moment in development of a new car, as the base of the chassis and power unit are brought together to check if the components work alongside each other.
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Alpine finished at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship in 2025, but both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto have spoken with hope for the future after a difficult campaign.
Gasly said towards the end of the year: “What has helped me a lot is, it was a very long tunnel the whole season, but knowing what we’re doing for 2026 I’ve always had that sort of light.
“I could always see the light at the end of the tunnel, which sort of helped me to get through that year.
“It’s the season I’ve scored the least number of points in F1.
“I feel, personally, I’ve put a strong performance out there, so it doesn’t really bring any satisfaction from it.
“I’m going be very happy to move away from that year.”
Alpine will officially unveil the A526 on January 23rd, which will be one of three launches that day as Ferrari and Haas pull the covers off their new challengers.
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