Alpine posted an intriguing image on social media because it provides a very interesting clue about the car that will race in the 2025 season. In the short video, a sticker is placed inside the monocoque, showing an identifying inscription: BWT Alpine – Chassis A525-5.
In itself, it’s an act that marks the creation of a new car preparing to begin the final season with the ground-effect car regulations. But in reality, the Enstone team gives us an important indication: it’s unthinkable that David Sanchez’s staff built five chassis during the winter break, so it’s much more likely that the team decided to use the lightened monocoque from last season, which is why the new designation is not accompanied by the number 1 that typically marks the first iteration of a new car lineage but continues with the number 5, indicating that it’s a story that continues.
Alpine had started the 2024 season disastrously, with both cars at the back of the grid, but after a deep restructuring of the team, which led to a revolution in the organization of the technical department with the departure of the top brass, a recovery phase began, allowing Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly to secure second and third place at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which was held under heavy rain. The “treatment” from Flavio Briatore, who returned to the team as a consultant, and the hiring of Oliver Oaks as team principal gave a new direction to a team that represents a Constructor and cannot be satisfied with a sixth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship.
At Enstone, they are not focused on the short term because the attention is on 2026, when the new regulations for agile cars will come into effect. The change in rules could play in favor of a reshuffling of the values within the paddock, which is why this year’s championship will be seen as a transition phase to arrive next year with a solid project built around the Mercedes power unit that will take over from Renault’s engine.
Since Alpine will still have to deal with the Viry-Chatillon engine in 2025, which is down by over 30 horsepower compared to the best competitors, it’s plausible that Flavio Briatore & Co decided to allocate more resources and people to the 2026 car, preferring to use a carryover chassis. The Enstone team has not yet indicated when the A525 will be revealed, but it will be interesting to see if the clue shown on social media points to a sound business strategy.
Also, because it’s not an unprecedented choice: back in 2020, they decided to use an old chassis because when they switched from the wide nose of 2019 to the narrower one, the RS20 showed a step between the monocoque and the nose, as the monocoque was wider…
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