Alpine’s strong start to the 2026 season is no surprise internally for its direct rivals: this is the view of Alan Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, a veteran of 34 years spent at Enstone.
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According to him, the key factor is strategic: Alpine sacrificed its 2025 season to focus entirely on the 2026 regulatory change.
“They accepted being last last year and dedicated all their available time to the 2026 car”, he explains.
The Mercedes effect
Added to this is the switch to the Mercedes engine, considered a solid technical base. The result: an immediately competitive single-seater, as illustrated by Pierre Gasly resisting Max Verstappen at Suzuka.
Conversely, Racing Bulls is now paying for its development choices. The team continued to evolve its 2025 car for longer, which mechanically delayed its 2026 project : “We expected to start a bit behind”, admits Permane (pictured above with Alpine CEO Steve Nielsen, his successor at Enstone).
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The technical base is not problematic — the car is sound and without major flaws — but it simply lacks aerodynamic downforce, a deficit the team is trying to make up through upcoming developments. Furthermore, Racing Bulls has to iron out the kinks of the new engine designed by RBPT (Red Bull Power Trains) even if the power unit developed with Ford seems rather well-conceived.
Very tight in the midfield
Long a pillar of “Team Enstone” in its various forms (Benetton, Renault, Lotus, and Alpine), Permane had been dismissed in the summer of 2024 along with team principal Otmar Szafnauer during the palace revolution that saw Flavio Briatore return through the back door, but he didn’t stay on the sidelines for long, recruited by RB as sporting director before being promoted following Laurent Mekies’ departure for the top team Red Bull Racing last summer.
Regarding the grid hierarchy, Permane remains clear-sighted: the expected progress should allow Racing Bulls to reposition itself more solidly in the midfield, but the gap to the top teams remains significant. Aiming for podiums seems out of reach in the short term, even if the team intends to exploit every opportunity.
In the background, this comparison primarily highlights two opposing philosophies regarding regulatory change: Alpine bet everything on a complete “reset,” with a long-term gamble that is starting to pay off, while Racing Bulls favored a more progressive approach that is currently penalizing but potentially more stable over time.
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