Alpine's French Core: Standing Firm Despite International Influence

Feb.28 - Alpine remains a French Formula 1 team, despite a lack of interest from the country itself.

That's the view of team owner Renault's Italian CEO Luca de Meo, whose even more famous countryman Flavio Briatore is busily revolutionising the outfit after a major 2024 slump.

"The car is much better," Briatore told Canal Plus at the Bahrain, "we have new and very important sponsors and the team is starting to take shape."

One of those new sponsors is Mercado Libre, one of new reserve driver Franco Colapinto's personal backers.

"We are starting to have a racing team again," Briatore said. "Pierre (Gasly) is happy with the performance of the car and a lot of things will change again soon in the team.

"We have to be competitive again, be an aggressive team, capable of winning races. I have given myself three years to put Alpine back in its place in Formula 1 because we have everything to do well. Everything."

Fascinatingly, Nikita Mazepin's billionaire Russian father Dmitry - formerly with very close ties to team boss Oliver Oakes - was a guest of the Alpine team in Bahrain on Thursday.

So with Alpine closing down its works F1 engine operations at Viry-Chatillon at the end of the year, with the team switching to customer Mercedes power, one is tempted to wonder if the outfit can still be regarded as French.

"We remain a French team, of course," Renault CEO de Meo insists to France's Auto Hebdo.

"History has led us in this direction, but if we could find French talent, French sponsors too, we would have them. But we can't find any.

"So we have to look for opportunities elsewhere. But we still consider Alpine as the French national team in Formula 1."

Perhaps even more than other teams, Alpine is clearly focusing hardest on the all-new 2026 regulations, with observers describing the new car as being based on a "recycled" 2024 chassis.

"In terms of feeling, I would say it is a continuation of what I felt at the end of last year, with some developments," French driver Gasly told L'Equipe.

"I think we have a healthy base."

With rookie Jack Doohan as his teammate, and the prospect of another rookie Colapinto being drafted into the sister cockpit later in the season, Gasly admits that he feels more than ever like a team leader.

"I know that there is a lot of attention on my technical feedback now," Gasly said. "The team does not hide it. I see that they are all listening to me.

"For me, it is a position that requires a little more responsibility but I appreciate it," he added. "I feel that there is much more serenity in the team than there was last year at the same time.

"You could almost say that it's night and day."

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