The final day of the 2026 shakedown in Barcelona saw a flurry of activity, and Alpine F1 completed an impressive 160 laps thanks to Pierre Gasly, the highest tally of any of the drivers.
Alpine’s Managing Director, Steve Nielsen, noted the “productive mileage” the team has managed to secure before heading into pre-season testing in Bahrain.
A “really busy schedule” and productive mileage for Alpine at 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown
Nielsen summed up Alpine’s week as their first step in a year of major change.
This was the first on-track test of the teams’ new power unit partnership with Mercedes, a major shift for the Enstone squad.
“First free test this year, so a really busy schedule for us,” he stated. “New PU supply for us to get to work with Mercedes. So an awful lot to learn.”
“Getting to know the new PUs, which we got this year, the energy deployment, recovery, and so on, and the new aero packages that we’ve all got.”
Nielsen confirmed that this integration is on track, “there’s nothing quite like doing it for real, coming to the circuit and getting to know personalities and procedures.”
The team is going through a “big learning curve”
The 2026 generation of cars presents a fresh challenge for every team, and Nielsen noted the driver’s role in this development phase.
“We shook down in Silverstone before we came here, and left there with probably more questions than answers,” Nielsen admitted.
“But we’d been able to come here and work through some of that particular energy recovery, it’s a big learning curve for us.”
Gasly’s impressive run of 160 laps on this final day suggests that the Alpine F1 have gained some valuable shakedown data, and gave the drivers crucial time to adapt to the A526 on track.
“It does involve driver input… massive straight line speeds that we’ve not seen before, less downfalls in the corners… really a lot to learn for the team and drivers.”
Looking ahead to pre-season testing in Bahrain
When asked where Alpine stands after Barcelona, Nielsen seems cautiously optimistic.
“We’re also out there looking at lap times, of course, trying to guess what fuel loads everybody’s got… you sort of try to persuade yourself that you’re competitive.”
He nodded to the upcoming Bahrain tests as the true pre-season test, following Alpine’s F1 shakedown.
“We don’t really know… but as the tests go on, particularly when we get to the end of the first and second Bahrain test, then we will see people do long runs, which is really where you make the accurate calculations.”
Despite the unknowns, Nielsen expressed that Alpine is currently on target.
And after a mileage shortfall on Monday, the team came back strong and put the foot down one final time before testing begins.
“We’ve got very ambitious plans… we’re going to try and cover 800k today, which is a lot. But pretty much on target.”
