Ferrari, Alpine launch 2026 challenger

Scuderia Ferrari and Alpine have launched their cars for the upcoming 2026 Formula 1 season which ushers in a new era of technical regulations.

The challenger, the SF-26, Ferrari’s features the unchanged classic red livery but includes more white than its predecessor, the SF-25.

Lewis Hamilton will be aiming for a stronger second season with the Italian marque after enduring a nightmare debut campaign where he failed to finish on the podium for the first time in his career and was outperformed by his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari failed to win a grand prix in 2025 and will hope the new regulations will give them a genuine chance at their first championship title since 2008.

Meanwhile, Alpine unveiled their 2026 challenger, the A526, on board a cruise ship in Barcelona on Friday.

The car has an updated blue and pink livery, and will run a Mercedes engine after its parent company Renault ended its power unit programme for the 2026 regulation changes.

The French team will be hoping to be competitive this year after a miserable 2025 where they ended bottom of the constructors’ championship with only 22 points, all scored by Pierre Gasly.

In another development, Williams will miss the pre-season test next week in Barcelona after delays in getting their new car ready.

The Woking team have pushed back as they aim to get maximum performance from the car, which they view as a better engineering outcome in preparation for the second pre-season test in Bahrain from February 11-13.

Williams finished fifth in the constructors’ championship last year and will continue with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz as their drivers.