Good news for Alpine : Mercedes has “met” some expectations on its 2026 engine

While the 2025 championship has not yet started, the 2026 season is already on everyone's minds and lips. Next year, the Formula 1 will have completely new technical regulations, concerning both aerodynamics and the powertrain with completely new power units, which will use more electrical energy (from 120kW today to 350kW in 2026).

For several months – even years – engine manufacturers have been developing this brand new power unit and filing the test bench to test and improve their new creation. And on the Mercedes side, we are rather confident about the performance of this 2026 version engine. Toto wolff said that some objectives had been achieved on the factory side Brixworth, but he remains cautious given the lack of a point of comparison with other engine manufacturers. "Some expectations are being met, that's a good thing, says the Austrian leader, Team Principal of Mercedes. For others, we continue to strive to achieve our goals. That's not trivial. But the question is, have you set your expectations in the right way? So the answer is, we don't know where we are."

With Mercedes, Alpine think I have "the best engine" in 2026.

A relative and cautious confidence despite the rumors that the Silver Arrows currently have the 2026 engine most advanced in its development, information that is difficult to verify, obviously. However, it was enough to convince Alpine to move towards Mercedes engines in 2026, after the announcement of the end of the F1 program at Viry-Châtillon last September. Oliver Oakes, Team Principal of the A fléché in Formula 1, has also returned to this decision. in the Beyond the Grid podcast and evokes a pragmatic choice.

“Times are changing and we can’t rest on our laurels. We have to be honest, the decision to become a customer team was in the best interests of the team, assures the British leader, working at Alpine since summer 2024. I know it was a difficult decision to make. I know there's a lot of emotion because we're proud to be a factory team and we've got another year to go together [in 2025], but I think it was also a big statement of intent about where we want to go."

"We are not here just to make money. We want to move forward," he adds, on the ambitions ofAlpine in 2026 and beyond, convinced that the Mercedes engine will be the best next year. I think I was pretty open, maybe too honest, when I said, selfishly, that I just wanted the best engine in the car. At the end of the day, for me, we're here to race. I want to be at the front of the grid, I don't want to be at the back. The choice we made was to put the best engine in the car and help the team continue to move up the grid." 

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