Alpine remains one of the biggest unknowns of the 2025 season. Last year, amid chaos, the team started the F1 World Championship at the back of the grid. The car was overweight, and the first chassis had been destroyed in a crash test. The designer of Enstone’s car resigned before the debut. Then, Flavio Briatore arrived, called by Luca De Meo, president of the Renault Group. Briatore was tasked with cleaning house: removing management and making significant cuts in various departments at Enstone. The French engineers at Viry Chatillon were let go to adopt the Mercedes power unit from 2026, while the team appointed young Oliver Oaks as team principal and David Sanchez as technical director.
The 2025 season is seen as the end of a cycle: the Renault power unit will be “tolerated” for the final year. It is the least powerful in the paddock, although winter improvements have been made to enhance its management and reliability. The French team aims to exit the GP world with pride.
The Alpine A525, therefore, is not an ambitious car that could challenge the top four teams, but after a strong finish to last season, it aims to battle Aston Martin for fifth place. The car does not feature breathtaking, groundbreaking elements but represents a significant step up in the choice of solutions and execution.
It is undoubtedly a solid car, ready to fight hard in the midfield. Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan experienced it yesterday in a filming day at Sakhir, as a preview to the three days of collective testing in Bahrain, where the car showed a good approach.
The A525, easily recognizable for the alternating Alpine blue and BWT sponsor pink, seems like a straightforward car, without lofty ambitions, but with very rational solutions. It’s a car designed to consistently fight for points.
The front nose is flat and stubby: the aerodynamicists at Enstone decided to shorten it at the second element, whereas in 2024, it was more pointed and extended to the end of the spoon. The main profile has a short chord in the central portion and widens near the sideboard, following a somewhat outdated design. The other three elements are grouped in the rear portion of the endplate, with the final curl aiding in outwash effect.
The vertical bar also features a small notch to increase the flow directed outward of the front wheel.
The front suspension is a classic push rod, but it includes an interesting characteristic: there is no upper triangle, but a multi-link solution with an upper arm above and a tilted lower arm.
Continuity with the end of last season is found in the sidepod inlets: Alpine tends to close the radiator intake with the tray extending upwards, without relying on the visor, which has become dominant in the paddock. The undercut is notably deeper, considering the Renault power unit’s air-hungry nature, and due to reliability concerns, engine conservation choices were made, avoiding over-complication.
Above, the sidepod follows the external border design until a more limited cut begins. The airbox is generous, ensuring adequate cooling not only for the radiator systems but also for the six-cylinder turbocharged engine.
The bazooka was opened on the first day of testing in Bahrain with three gills, positioned on a bodywork area that is adjustable in front of the largest outlet. The engine cover tapers at the rear, keeping small openings along the ridge, offering a cleaner, more enveloping rear end.
The rear suspension remains push rod: technicians focused on the carbon fiber covers, oriented to align properly with the shape of the sidepods.
The rear wing, supported by a single pylon, features a wide spoon-shaped main profile and a medium-load mobile flap, topped by a full-width polder.
Alpine introduced a B-version of the A524 at the end of last season, and this year’s car is an evolved version of a project that had already made a significant leap forward in 2024, improving from last place to sixth in the Constructors’ standings.
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