Franco Colapinto's A526 will have a special design for the Miami Grand Prix

Alpine will face the Miami Grand Prix with aesthetic changes in the cars of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. In addition to having technical improvements, the French team confirmed that the A526 will have a special decoration with greater prominence from Mercado Libre, the main sponsor of

the Argentine pilot.

“The return to America also marks the return of the team's special Mercado Libre decoration, which was present for three races in 2025. The iconic Mercado Libre handshake returns to the engine cover and the rear spoiler, giving the A526 a yellow glow in the Sunshine State,” they said from the French team

.

Beyond aesthetics, the focus will be on sports performance.

After the April break and after analyzing the data obtained in the first three races of the 2026 championship, the structure based on Enstone worked on new evolutions to try to keep up the fight for points

.

“These have been exceptionally busy weeks for the team as we prepare to resume the season in Miami,” said Steve Nielsen, CEO of Alpine. He added: “We know that our rivals will have worked hard on improvements, so it will be interesting to see the differences when we get back on track. We also reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of our package and accelerated some elements for this weekend

.”

Alpine's start to the season was competitive, as it managed to score points on all the dates played so far, although within the team they recognize that the difference with other teams is minimal and that each update can be decisive.

Nielsen's opinion about the Colapinto exhibition

On the other hand, the British also referred to the massive Road Show that the Argentinian driver led last weekend in Buenos Aires, where more than 600,000 people accompanied the exhibition held with a Lotus E20 on

avenues of Libertador and Sarmiento

.

"It was great to see Franco returning home to Buenos Aires for the weekend at what seemed to be a spectacular exhibition event with one of our old cars. I'm sure that will have recharged him with energy and given him motivation to perform on the track,” said Nielsen

.

When does Colapinto return to racing

After the break of just over a month due to the cancellations of the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula 1 will resume action next week with the Miami Grand Prix.

The competition will take place at the Miami International Autodrome between Friday, May 1 and Sunday, May 3