Pack reshuffle in F1
Pierre Gasly says Alpine can now target McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari after an engine switch and focused early development on their 2026 car. Meanwhile Racing Bulls’ new VCARB 03 is being flagged as hard to overtake on the straights because of how it uses the Red Bull‑Ford powertrain. ( )
Alpine signed a multi‑year deal to run Mercedes power units and gearboxes from the 2026 season until at least the end of 2030, a contract first announced on November 12, 2024. (Formula1.com ) The Enstone squad effectively halted upgrades to its 2025 A525 around the Spanish Grand Prix in June 2025 and reallocated engineering resources to the 2026 programme, a move highlighted by multiple technical outlets as the reason for Alpine’s 2025 drop to the back of the grid. (Motorsport.com ) Pierre Gasly qualified seventh and finished sixth at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on March 15, 2026, scoring points for Alpine’s A526 in both of the season’s opening two rounds. (Formula1.com ) (GPBlog ) Alpine’s 2026 challenger, the A526, completed a Silverstone shakedown on January 21, 2026 and was officially unveiled in Barcelona on January 23, with teams reporting the Mercedes power‑unit integration proceeding without major issues. (Autosport ) (Formula1.com ) Racing Bulls’ VCARB 03 uses a Red Bull‑Ford DM01 1.6‑litre V6 hybrid and completed its public livery reveal in Detroit on January 15, 2026 before doing a filmed shakedown at Imola later that month. (Wikipedia ) (The Race / Motorsport Magazine ) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls entered the season with Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad as drivers; Lawson’s race finishes were 13th in Australia and 7th in China while Lindblad finished 8th in Australia and 12th in China, according to race logs and team statistics. (StatsF1 ) (PlanetF1 )
