Alpine drops radical rear wing after three races

Alpine made a sharp design U-turn in Miami, abandoning the unusual rear-wing concept it introduced at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season and switching back to a more conventional DRS-style layout after only three races.

The team had stood out in winter testing with a movable flap that deployed downward, leaving the element close to horizontal when opened. In Miami, that idea was dropped. Alpine returned to a system in which the upper flap opens upward at the front, much closer in principle to the older DRS approach used until 2025, even if the 2026 regulations still allow more freedom around the opening and the wing ends.

This was not a simple flap swap. Alpine also revised the rear-wing actuator and the endplates as part of the change, and brought an exhaust-outlet update inspired by Ferrari’s FTM concept in an effort to improve aerodynamic efficiency.

The timing made the switch more striking. Alpine had originally planned to introduce the revised rear wing in Canada, but the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races allowed Enstone to accelerate its build schedule and send one example to Miami instead. That single unit arrived in Florida on the Wednesday of race week and was fitted only to Pierre Gasly’s car.

Franco Colapinto continued with the previous rear wing in Miami, although he was not left on an old package. Alpine also gave him other major updates, including a lighter chassis first used after a filming day at Silverstone, and he turned that into seventh place, his best result in Formula 1.

Gasly’s side of the garage offered less clarity on the new wing’s race potential. He retired after a collision and rollover, leaving Alpine without a clean comparison between the split-spec cars on Sunday.

Steve Nielsen, Alpine’s managing director, said the package appeared to be moving the team in the right direction, even if the evaluation remained limited. “I believe it is giving the results we expected, but it is very difficult to assess everything in a single free practice session when you are working on so many other aspects,” he said.

Nielsen said the Miami package had delivered progress. “The updates we brought effectively guaranteed an advance,” he said, while adding that more parts are due in Montreal and that Alpine plans to keep developing through the season.

What Miami showed most clearly was that Alpine has already moved on from one of the paddock’s boldest 2026 ideas. After opening the season with a wing concept that set it apart, the team decided by round four that a more conventional direction offered the better path for the A526’s development.