Formula One laggards Alpine expect to reap their rewards next season after putting all their efforts into next year's car, according to the Renault-owned team's French driver Pierre Gasly.
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Alpine are last in the constructors' standings, 24 points adrift of ninth-placed Haas with eight of the 24 rounds remaining.
Gasly, who has scored all the team's points, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that he had committed his future long-term to the team because he knew what was in the pipeline.
"We made some tactical decisions not to develop that (2025) car, to stop the development very early on," he said.
"Probably got affected also by the couple of changes of regulation through the year, which meant we started in an OK place and probably lost performance through the year when others managed to develop a tiny bit more.
"And looking at the gaps... two, three tenths one way or the other just gets you to the top 10 or completely to the back of the field.
"Unfortunately, we’re more towards the back. But in terms of decisions, we know why we are in this situation. I think all the efforts we are doing for next year are going to be rewarded in a couple of months."
Formula One will have a new engine next year, with Alpine switching from Renault to Mercedes power, and a fresh set of regulations.
Alpine have yet to decide their second driver for 2026, with Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto currently Gasly's teammate after replacing Australian Jack Doohan.
The team won titles as Benetton and Renault in the 1990s and early 2000s with Italian Flavio Briatore, then as now, at the helm.