Alpine at Monza: both cars on the upgrade, both seats already signed

Alpine arrives at Monza with two things it has not had together all season: the same upgrade package on both cars, and no driver question hanging over the garage.

Neither guarantees points at the Temple of Speed. Both remove excuses.

The upgrade finally reaches both cars

The package that appeared at Zandvoort ran on one car only. Pierre Gasly had it; Franco Colapinto did not. This weekend both A526s carry it, which is the first time this year Alpine can read its own data without correcting for a difference between the two garages.

Managing Director Steve Nielsen was measured about what Zandvoort actually produced.

“We were actually a little disappointed in the end to only come away with two points as, on reflection, and, given the circumstances of Sunday’s race, more was probably possible,” Nielsen said. “The upgrade we brought to Pierre’s car was good and worked as expected and we are pleased to bring that to Franco’s car this weekend in Monza. This should give us the platform to have both cars up there and competing for points, but we know we have more work to do to extract the most from our package.”

That last clause is the honest part. A package that works is not the same as a package understood, and Monza is an unforgiving place to learn one. The circuit rewards a car set up for a single narrow window of low drag and heavy braking stability, and it punishes anyone still hunting for the compromise on Sunday morning.

Gasly said much the same from the cockpit. “The upgrade package worked well and I know we probably left a bit on the table last time out which we want to put right this weekend.”

Colapinto runs it for the first time

For Colapinto the weekend carries an extra layer of work, because he meets the new parts on Friday and races them on Sunday.

“This weekend will be my first with our new upgrade package, which Pierre used last time out, and I’m looking forward to running it from Friday and racing with it this weekend,” he said. “The step looked to be promising and we will be working hard to get up to speed with the changes as quickly as possible.”

He is also the driver in this story with the shortest route to a good memory of the place. Colapinto made his Formula 1 debut at Monza in 2024, and Gasly took his maiden Grand Prix victory here in 2020: a result that still ranks among the least likely of the modern era.

“It is where I won my first Formula One race back in 2020,” Gasly said. “A memory which will for sure last a lifetime and something I reflect on regularly.”

Paul Aron’s Friday is busier than either race driver’s

The detail worth pausing on is what Alpine is asking of its reserve.

Paul Aron takes over Gasly’s car for FP1, his second practice outing of the season after Budapest. He has already driven the upgrade in the simulator, so his job on track is comparative: confirm whether the tunnel and the simulator told the truth.

Then he goes back to the simulator.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend for me as I’ll be on the simulator at Enstone on Friday night to further help the team fine tune the set-up before returning to the track on Saturday,” Aron said.

That loop (real track data on Friday afternoon, simulator correlation on Friday night, back trackside on Saturday) is how a modern reserve driver earns a seat’s worth of value without a seat. It is also a reminder of how much of a Formula 1 weekend now happens several hundred kilometres from the circuit.

A line-up settled before the market moved

Alpine confirmed during the Zandvoort–Monza gap that Colapinto stays alongside Gasly for 2027. It is a small thing on a timing sheet and a significant one in a paddock where uncertainty is the most expensive commodity a driver can carry.

“I’m delighted that, in the gap ahead of Monza, the team have confirmed that I’ll be staying next year, alongside Pierre,” Colapinto said. “I want to reiterate my thanks to Flavio and Steve for the trust and it feels amazing to stay with this team for another season. We’ve made a lot of important progress this year, both with the car and with my driving, so I’m very pleased that has been recognised.”

Away from the track, the same partnership thinking is visible in Alpine’s switch of its European race logistics to Enilive biofuel.

Alpine has spent the past two seasons being written about mostly in terms of who might leave. Going into the final European double-header with both cars on the same specification and both seats already signed for next year is, by recent standards, an unusually quiet position for this team.

Monza in 2026 specification

This is the 96th Italian Grand Prix counting the pre-championship races, at a circuit that has hosted more Grands Prix than any other. Curva Grande and the Lesmos are still, in outline, the corners drawn in 1922.

Alpine’s own preview notes four Straight Mode zones here, the most aggressive low-drag configuration of the year, which is precisely what makes Monza the least predictable read on this generation of cars. The long straights and the heavy braking into the Rettifilo and della Roggia chicanes are where the new power unit and active aerodynamic rules are most exposed.

Monza’s history suggests the circuit does not need help being interesting. The 1965 race produced 41 lead changes. The 1971 finish was settled by 0.010 seconds.

“Monza will be a very interesting race with this generation of cars,” Colapinto said. “The long straights combined with very strong braking zones could produce a lot of action.”

The weekend in numbers

Round 13 runs over 5.793 kilometres a lap and 306.72 kilometres in total, which at Monza means 53 laps. Pirelli brings its three softest compounds: C5 as the soft, C4 as the medium, C3 as the hard.

Two numbers there deserve attention. The average pit stop loss at Monza is around 25 seconds, one of the shortest on the calendar, which makes a second stop cheaper here than almost anywhere else and keeps strategy live deep into the race. Against that sits a 38 per cent safety car probability, high enough that a one-stop plan can be undone by someone else’s mistake.

The 2025 race produced 26 overtakes and Lando Norris set the lap record at 1:20.901. Monza has held a round of the World Championship since the series began in 1950.

Session times

All times local at the circuit, which is Central European Summer Time.

Friday 4 September: FP1 12:30-13:30, FP2 16:00-17:00
Saturday 5 September: FP3 12:30-13:30, Qualifying 16:00-17:00
Sunday 6 September: Race 15:00, 53 laps

Aron takes FP1 on Friday in Gasly’s car. From FP2 onwards it is the race pairing, on matching machinery, for the first time this season.

Also previewing Monza: Audi at the Italian Grand Prix.

Quotes from the BWT Alpine Formula One Team Italian Grand Prix preview release.

How qualifying works: six drivers are eliminated in each of Q1 and Q2 in 2026, and Q3 now runs to thirteen minutes. Our guide to F1 qualifying explained covers the full format, the 107 percent rule and sprint qualifying.