Alpine F1 team faces performance slump after Hungarian Grand Prix

Alpine’s A526 chassis struggled at the Hungarian Grand Prix, slipping out of the top ten. Pierre Gasly qualified 12th and finished 12th, while teammate Franco Colapinto started 13th and ended 15th, both unable to match the pace of Racing Bulls, Audi and especially Aston Martin.

The team noted that Aston Martin’s AMR26 showed a clear advantage in the corners, with Colapinto saying the “versions B” of the AMR26 were “much faster than us” in the curves, gaining roughly two‑tenths of a second per lap. Alpine, now powered by a Mercedes engine, acknowledged the need for a major technical upgrade before the next race at Zandvoort to close the gap.

Alpine’s management described the weekend as a “hard reality check” and warned that without significant development the team could face a difficult second half of the season.