Representatives of Renault’s Formula 1 engine team in Viry-Chatillon called on the French manufacturer to reconsider its plans to sign Alpine as a Mercedes customer, suggesting the decision was a “betrayal”.
To improve its chances of success, the Alpine Formula 1 team wants to become a Mercedes customer team from 2026.
A final decision on the engine plans and the future of the Viry headquarters is expected to be made on September 30. Renault has already commissioned a study to look at shifting the focus of F1 staff at the French plant to the development of new technologies.
But after Renault’s current engine team had already expressed their dismay to their superiors and Renault CEO Luca de Meo about the decision to abandon the F1 engine project that began in 1977, staff representatives have now made their concerns public.
In a statement sent to Motorsport.com, the Social and Economic Council of Alpine employees in Viry-Chatillon (Conseil Social et Economique) said that the technical potential of the 2026 engine more than justifies Renault’s continuation of the project.
It states: “The group’s management plans to stop the program in Viry-Chatillon in 2026 and opt for an engine supply, probably from Mercedes.”
“The reason given is a significant direct saving, as development costs of $120 million are exchanged for annual delivery of $17 million.”
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
It continues: “We do not understand what justifies destroying this elitist entity that is the Viry-Chatillon site and betraying its myth and DNA by implanting a Mercedes heart into our F1 Alpine.”
“The announcement of the end of the development and production of French power units for Formula 1 is incomprehensible.
“We cannot accept that Alpine and the Renault Group are damaging their image, which is why we call on Mr De Meo and his board to resign from this decision.”
In the detailed document, the Economic and Social Council outlined how Viry had achieved some ambitious development goals with the new engine, which had shown great potential in bench tests.
“More than a hundred groundbreaking concepts were studied, of which almost a third demonstrated significant performance on the test bench and were to be introduced in the future Alpine engine, the AR26,” it said.
“The aim was to have the first Alpine 2026 engine in operation at the end of the first half of 2024, a year and a half after the project was born.
“On June 26, 2024, the RE26A, the name given to the first ‘factory’ version of the AR26, was launched for the first time on engine test bench No. 6 in Viry-Chatillon, representing a success in terms of the target date.
“This first engine is still missing almost a third of the performance concepts previously validated on the system test bench, which are scheduled to be introduced before the end of 2024. However, the first test results are promising.”
Luca de Meo, CEO, Renault Group
Photo by: Michael Potts / Motorsport Images
The statement said the test engine produced over 400kW of power in its first hours of operation – close to the power target set for the first race in 2026. It is said to have a thermal efficiency of 48% and has had no major reliability issues.
It was also revealed that the engine was 12 percent shorter than the current powerplant Alpine was using, providing “significant scope” for improved chassis integration. In addition, it was under the minimum weight set by the regulations, meaning Alpine could use ballast.
The statement continued: “The RE26A is considered a great success by all Viry-Chatillon teams, a well-developed engine with clear potential to boost the ambitions of the Alpine F1 team a year and a half after its first race.”
Although Renault has promised to use the current Viry F1 engine staff for new projects, which could include hydrogen technology, the Council considers this to be nonsense.
“The site redesign plan, to be finally approved on September 30, 2024, consists of shifting resources to other Alpine Racing projects (Endurance, Formula E, customer competitions, hydrogen combustion engine of a hypercar, etc.) already saturated in terms of personnel, or redistributing engineering to innovative projects supposedly useful for the mass production industry but not yet defined at that time,” the statement continued.
“Innovations in the automotive sector today focus on the chemistry and industrialization of batteries, ‘software-defined vehicles’ and autonomous driving. The skills of Viry employees have nothing to do with these topics.”
Alpine has not commented on the matter, but it is understood that Viry’s HR representatives have exercised their right to request expert input on planned future projects. It is expected that this feedback will be provided on 30 September.
Furthermore, Alpine has not yet made a final decision on the transformation project in Viry.
