For the seemingly inescapable state of flux that Alpine appears to thrive in, the team now appears to be settling down after years of self-inflicted turbulence. A few rounds of changes in management, philosophy, and occupants of the second seat painted the Renault-owned outfit as one destined to chase its tail forever; it could still remain as such – as last week’s column on Gabriel Bortoleto has proven, this writer is no clairvoyant.
The team’s extension of Franco Colapinto’s deal to 2026 suggests that it does indeed value continuity. Sure, there’s plenty of other reasons to retain the Argentine’s services – a few million of them, in fact – but the bottom line is that his rate of progress this year has been solid after being hurled into the car mid-season with little opportunity to test. While further change is afoot for next year, as the team takes delivery of Mercedes powertrains to voluntarily give up works status, it ensures that the team is no longer alone on being 30-odd horsepower down on its rival teams, as has been the case over the past few years.
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