Alpine has revealed the livery its 2026 Formula 1 car will race in at a launch event on a cruise ship in Barcelona.
At a launch held in conjunction with sponsor MSC Cruises, Alpine revealed a largely unchanged blue-and-pink gloss paint livery on a showcar that is representative of the new 2026 regulations, rather than its real A526.
Compared to the end-of-2025 Alpine, the 2026 car's sidepods return to the car's main blue colour, with the logo of title sponsor BWT in pink writing on top.
Alpine F1 boss Flavio Briatore says there is "no excuse" if the A526 is not a success, given the team has banked on a switch to Mercedes power and effectively gave up on its 2025 very early to maximise this year's opportunity.
The Barcelona launch took place three days before the first F1 2026 test, a behind-closed-doors event at the nearby Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
But the real A526 has run on track already, and some limited imagery of it does exist already. This emerged from its shakedown run at Silverstone on Wednesday.
The Race understands this was a productive first run, and that Alpine managed around 140km of the 200km maximum it was permitted, with Pierre Gasly at the wheel, before the light got too bad on a particularly wet and dark day.
"I expect the best, this year [there is] no excuse anymore," said Briatore. "We have a brand new car and we have same drivers. So Franco [Colapinto] is here, I promise you, has done a very good winter, and is ready to compete with Pierre.
"We need two drivers competing for the team, of course.
"If the car is bad, it is our fault, because we haven't had any problems building this car. We have the budget, we have the sponsor to feed it. We have the budget.
"If we want to do something more, I don't think it's possible - because we have done everything that was possible."
The initial images of the Alpine highlight a noticeable difference in packaging around the engine and sidepods between the factory Mercedes team and its new customer, Alpine having given up its works status in favour of a new customer supply deal to line up with the new engine rules coming in for 2026.
It is not the first time the Enstone entity has raced with Mercedes engines, though - as it did so when it was known as Lotus in 2015 in the first iteration of the V6 turbo-hybrid era.
Alpine finished last among the 10 teams in the 2025 F1 constructors' championship, though the 22 points it scored meant it was statistically the 'best' worst team in F1 history.
It stopped development work on that year's car in January and diverted resource to its car for the 2026 rules, which as well as featuring an overhaul of the engine rules also involve a major change in chassis regulations.
"Our strategy was in '25 essentially we want to invest as much as possible, as early as possible, on the 2026 car because for us to try and make that step forward in trying to eradicate many fundamental limitations which take time to develop, we had to start early," technical director David Sanchez told The Race last year.
