Here’s a look at the heavily revised A526 Alpine has at Zandvoort, plus all the other updates teams have brought for the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
Alpine and Zandvoort’s arrival on the F1 scene coincided with the 2021 season.
Now, as the Dutch GP bows out of the calendar, the Enstone-based team has brought a raft of performance upgrades to its car to give Zandvoort the send-off it deserves.
The Hungarian GP had augmented Alpine’s lean spell, in terms of competitiveness, as the team lost further ground to Racing Bulls in the fight for P5 in the standings.
Heading into the race weekend at Zandvoort, the Anglo-French marque would hope to reinstate its credentials in the midfield with a heavily upgraded A526.
Alpine have brought as many as eight performance upgrades to its car. The floor of the A526 has been substantially altered with a new floor body, board and edge elements to increase both local load and downforce towards the rear of the car.
Additionally, the team has also brought a reworked diffuser with reprofiled geometry aimed at improving the car’s aerodynamic efficiency across its operating range.
The A526 will also sport modified bodywork around its sidepod and coke area, with a view to complementing the floor upgrades. In conjunction with its modified floor, elements on its rear brake drums have also been reprofiled along with a brand new rear impact structure.
Lastly, a reworked rear wing will also be fitted to the A526 that will feature the team’s latest iteration of its flap geometry in a bid to “efficiently increase rear wing load while maintaining a high-quality, stable flowfield.”
McLaren and Ferrari look to close in on Mercedes at Zandvoort
The first half of the season saw Mercedes become the runaway leaders of F1’s latest regulations cycle.
That said, its rivals have slowly but surely started clawing that deficit back. At the Hungaroring, McLaren and Lando Norris took their first pole position and win of 2026, edging out the German marque on pure pace.
At Zandvoort, the Woking-based team looks set on building on its resurgence. The upgrade package for the MCL40 is focused on improving airflow and downforce towards the rear of the car.
McLaren have brought yet another brand-new rear wing assembly and made changes to the engine cover and coke bodywork to accommodate its new wing design.
The MCL40 will also sport a revised brake duct with both internal and external geometry changes to achieve reliability as well as aerodynamic efficiency.
Ferrari, too, has focused on bringing a suite of performance upgrades, though its package is more spread out across the contours of its SF-26 concept.
The Maranello-based team has decided to bring a wholly reworked floor to Zandvoort with new board, body and edge elements. Ferrari hopes to see this translate on track with increased aerodynamic efficiency as well as better airflow towards and around its diffuser.
In anticipation of how the new floor is going to transform airflow, Ferrari has decided to also optimise its diffuser geometry along with a rejigged beam wing.
Rounding off the top four, Red Bull has brought a solitary adjustment to the RB22 with a shortened wishbone shroud chord on its front suspension to “reduce strain on the gaitor at high steering angles.”
Aston Martin continues upgrades spree at F1 Dutch GP
Aston Martin introduced a b-spec AMR26 at the Hungarian GP, and it was a revelation for the Silverstone-based team.
For the race weekend at Zandvoort, Adrian Newey has brought further incremental revisions to the concept in anticipation of an all-new, upgraded Honda power unit this weekend.
The AMR26 will sport revised front-wing endplates, developed as an incremental revision of its Hungary-spec front wing. Additionally, the team has also brought an “optional” front-wing flap.
“The flap extends the range of balance that can be achieved with front wing adjustment for car setup optimisation,” Aston Martin declared in its disclosures to the FIA.
The diffuser on the AMR26 has also received a slight makeover, with new floor fences and modifications to the lower edge of the diffuser winglet.
Elsewhere in the midfield, the likes of Williams, Racing Bulls, Haas, Audi and Cadillac have brought no upgrades for the Dutch GP.
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