Formula One’s new era got off to an enthralling start in Australia last weekend.

Despite a challenging couple of days, we came away from Melbourne with a point on the board thanks to Pierre’s tenth-place finish on Sunday. Let’s take a quick look back on what happened Down Under, before we make the journey to the city of Shanghai for the upcoming visit to China.

Howzat for a stadium?

As well as being the site for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne is a city rich in sporting heritage, famous for hosting tennis, football, and cricket. As a sports fan, there are few better places to visit than the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for a tour and a spot of batting practice.

Last Wednesday, Pierre and Franco were welcomed to the ground by two Australian, and Melburnian, cricket legends: batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and fast-medium bowler Scott Boland. Not only did the pair give our racers some batting tips in the nets, but a jersey swap took place, with Pierre proudly wearing his yellow Cricket Australia shirt on the Sunday morning drivers’ parade. There was also a chance to visit the scoreboard on the roof, where both drivers enjoyed spectacular views across the Yarra River and Albert Park Lake.

A weekend of announcements

When we arrived at the circuit on Thursday morning, there was some good news to share. Mercado Libre announced the renewal of its partnership with BWT Alpine Formula One Team, with Franco himself applying the iconic handshake logo to the side of this year’s A526. Find out more about our partnership with Mercado Libre here.

That wasn’t the only news coming out of the team at the weekend. On the eve of the new FIA Formula 2 campaign, we also revealed that Irishman Alex Dunne has become the newest member of the Alpine Academy. The 20-year-old joins fellow racers Gabriele Mini and Kush Maini in driving a pink, BWT-livered car in F2 this year. And to celebrate his new colours, Dunne scored an excellent third-place finish in Saturday’s Sprint Race.

A new era of F1 begins

After much anticipation, the first competitive sessions of the 2026 Formula One season took place on Friday, with two hours to familiarise ourselves with the nuances of these regulations at this particular circuit. Not only did we work with new power unit partner Mercedes-AMG to understand the energy management requirements for Albert Park, we also spent time evaluating tyre compounds and setup options for this high-speed layout.

Despite the track being typically dirty on Friday morning, our pace was similar in the afternoon session, which meant spending a lot of time looking at the data late into the evening. Pierre had managed 43 laps in total across the day, but had to stop earlier than planned in FP2, which limited his run plan, Franco, meanwhile, completed ten more laps for a valuable day’s learning.

A fan-friendly welcome

The walk into the paddock is always one of the friendliest welcomes of the year with fans lining the famous ‘Melbourne Walk’. Both Pierre and Franco stopped to sign autographs each morning meeting fans who had been waiting since admission opened. They also received a great reception at the fan forum, where the sporting challenge this time around was to kick soft AFL balls far into the crowd, Pierre reuniting with some of Carlton’s players, who he had met last year.

The Australian Grand Prix wasn’t the only race taking place last weekend. On Sunday morning, we ran our first Beforeyouspeak Coffee Run Club of the new season, with entrants choosing to participate in either a 5km or 10km route from the premium facilities at Undefeated Private Lifting Club.

Before the five red lights went out on race day, we took a moment to acknowledge International Women’s Day, which this year had the theme ‘Give to Gain’. It was a chance to celebrate and support all the women in our team who give so much trackside, and back at the factory in Enstone. During the weekend, we also welcomed to our garage Ruby, a 13-year-old girl aspiring to be an engineer in F1 in the future.

91 days since our last race

A lot has happened since the chequered flag flew at the end of last season’s Abu Dhabi GP, and Sunday dawned with much anticipation for the start of the new year. Qualifying hadn’t quite gone as planned, with both drivers unable to fully maximise a complex low fuel package with tyre preparation and energy deployment still yet to be fully mastered. Although both were able to progress from Q1, Pierre lined up P14 on the grid, with Franco two places further back.

Lights out and away we go

Off the line, Pierre made a blistering start to the new campaign, making up five positions from his grid slot on the opening lap. Behind him, Franco displayed incredible cat-like reactions as he was unsighted heading towards a slow-moving Liam Lawson. In a remarkable piece of car control, he swerved around the Racing Bulls machine and steered clear of the pit wall, to avert a major accident and stay in the race.

Franco passed Fernando Alonso and was running 15th until he had to serve a stop-go penalty (no, not a Colapinto and Go!), following a procedural error on the grid before the start of the race. He stopped on lap 46 for softs and finished the race P14.

A point to prove

Meanwhile, Pierre pitted under the Virtual Safety Car on lap 11 to remove his mediums and fit hards, which he ran to the end of the race. It was an impressive drive, and a close fight with former team-mate Esteban Ocon for the whole race. Pierre made an excellent pass on lap 21 into Turn 3, picking up minor damage as the pair made contact, but thereafter, on worn tyres, didn’t put a foot wrong to score a well-deserved point for tenth place.

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director:

“It was a very busy race at the wheel for Pierre with a lot of hard battles on the track and, in the end, he secured a strong result after showing a lot of resilience and skill. Unfortunately, an operational error on Franco’s side meant he had to serve a penalty, which ended any chances of him scoring points. This is something we, as a team, take on the chin and can only apologise to Franco as this was out of his control.”

As soon as the season has begun, it’s already time to move on to Round 2, as we make the journey north to Shanghai for this coming weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the first Sprint of the year.