Alpine fire Dutch Grand Prix warning with crucial upgrades planned

The British-French squad are currently sixth in the constructors’ championship, a vast improvement after they finished bottom in 2025.

With 61 points, Alpine are just five behind Racing Bulls, who currently lead the so-called ‘midfield battle’ but they’re more than ready to claim that spot back.

Speaking ahead of the final race at Zandvoort, managing director Steve Nielsen raised expectations.

“We have a few upgrades available this weekend, which we will run on the car in practice ahead of sprint qualifying,” he said in a press release.

Giving his take, Franco Colapinto made it clear that fifth-place in the standings is Alpine’s target for the season.

Speaking about returning from the summer break, he commented: “We ended a bit disappointed, which I was able to reflect on because it shows how far we have come as a team from this position last year.

Despite the positivity, Alpine haven’t had it all their own way recently, losing out to not just Racing Bulls but also Audi in recent races.

Speaking to GPblog and others after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly went into depth explaining the team’s recent problems.

“There's been a couple of races where it's kind of the same story,” he said. “In qualifying, 12th, 13th, behind Racing Bulls and Audi.

Yet delivering some hope for what will be a crucial Dutch Grand Prix outing, he finished: “I think the aero is very inconsistent, and I think it's something which we know and hopefully will be fixed in Zandvoort.