After a tough F1 2025 campaign, spirits remain high at Alpine with both Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto optimistic of improved fortunes.<\/p>\n
Alpine finished last in the Constructors\u2019 Championship last season, with Colapinto and the man he replaced, Jack Doohan, the only two drivers who failed to score throughout the 24-race season.<\/p>\n
Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto optimistic ahead of F1 2026<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n New regulations and changes at Enstone have instilled a degree of optimism ahead of the coming season.<\/p>\n While F1 2025 was difficult, in many ways it freed Alpine to focus on the incoming regulations set, which sees sweeping changes to both chassis and power unit rules.<\/p>\n As part of that, Alpine<\/a> has ceased production of its own engines and will take on a customer supply from Mercedes.<\/p>\n Development resources were also channelled to the 2026 project early, resigning the team to a long season at the wrong end of the field in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just tried to really take every single weekend one after another, without really having too many expectations,\u201d Gasly said of the F1 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat has helped me a lot is, it was a very long tunnel the whole season, but knowing what we\u2019re doing for 2026 I\u2019ve always had that sort of light.<\/p>\n More on the all-new regulations for F1 2026<\/p>\n F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2025 vs F1 2026: Nine key questions ahead of massive regulation changes<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI could always see the light at the end of the tunnel, which sort of helped me to get through that year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the season I\u2019ve scored the least number of points in F1.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel, personally, I\u2019ve put a strong performance out there, so it doesn\u2019t really bring any satisfaction from it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going be very happy to move away from that year.\u201d<\/p>\n Colapinto has been retained alongside Gasly, offering stability on the driving front.<\/p>\n The Argentinian holds a similar view, enthused by the potential offered by the coming campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cNext year\u2019s car is going to be better than this year\u2019s,\u201d Colapinto said in the latter stages of F1 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very, I think, they are all very positive in terms of the base and the performance of next year, starting the simulations, but until you see it on track it\u2019s difficult to say.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to be better than this year\u2019s!\u201d<\/p>\n Gasly added of the trials of 2025, and the decision to focus on 2026 early: \u201cIf it gives me better results next year, I literally do not care about this season\u2014and it will be all worth it.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the reality is what we could have fought for this year is still not good enough for us.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd these couple of weeks or months can potentially give us a head start on some other teams and bring much better success, which is what we are seeking, ultimately.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, yeah, fully backing the team in what we did. It\u2019s a bit drastic, but sometimes to achieve greatness, you\u2019ve got to make tough choices.\u201d<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n