Renault staff call for rethink over F1 ‘betrayal’
Renault Formula 1 engine staff have urged the French manufacturer not to go ahead with a plan for its Alpine team to become a customer squad, suggesting the decision is a ‘betrayal’.
Alpine is poised to commit to becoming a Mercedes customer team from 2026 onwards to improve its fortunes. But with Renault engine staff already understood to have voiced dismay to bosses and Renault CEO Luca de Meo over the decision to abandon its F1 engine project, which originally began in 1977, representatives of its personnel have now gone public with their concerns.
A statement issued by the Social and Economic Council of Alpine employees in Viry, sent to Autosport, outlined that the technical promise already shown by its 2026 engine more than justified Renault continuing with the project. It said: “We do not understand what justifies killing this elite entity that is the Viry-chatillon site and betraying its legend and its DNA by grafting a Mercedes heart into our F1 Alpine [car].
“We cannot accept that Alpine and the Renault Group damage their images, which is why we ask Mr De Meo and his board of directors to renounce this decision.
“The [2026 engine] is seen by all the Viry-chatillon teams as a great success, a well-born engine with a clear potential.”
While Renault has promised to move current Viry F1 engine staff on to new projects, which could include hydrogen technology, the Council believes this makes no sense. A final decision on the engine plan and the future of its headquarters is expected by 30 September.