The name chosen for the French team’s first-ever Mercedes-powered car will be A526, continuing the naming continuity seen with previous cars.

Like the other ten teams, Alpine is now ready to unveil the shape of its first car for the new regulatory cycle, with the French outfit aiming to play a leading role after four years marked by few highs and many lows — capped off by last place in the Constructors’ Championship last season.

Adding to all of this is the fact — as briefly mentioned — that for the first time in its history Alpine will race without its long-standing Renault engines, in the hope that the switch to Mercedes power units will deliver the long-awaited step forward in performance.

Like many others, Alpine chose to sacrifice development of its 2025 car in order to focus fully on next season, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest technical shake-ups in Formula 1’s recent history.

The Frenchman carried the team on his shoulders last year, scoring all 22 of Alpine’s points, although it was still not enough to avoid finishing last in the standings.

More recently, Gasly has spoken about the current state of development of the 2026 car and what expectations are heading into the new season.