Reports from French media suggest that Alpine's Formula 1 engines might cease operations sooner than anticipated.
Newly-departed team boss Bruno Famin revealed at Spa that as Renault shifts to using customer power units by 2026, it will discontinue its engine production at Viry-Chatillon. "For the time being, nothing is done," Famin emphasized. "In France, we have unions and a very strict social process. And we cannot take any decision until having reached the end of that process."
"I mean, we are talking to some PU manufacturers, but we cannot sign anything until this process is over."
Famin assures that the 350 employees at Viry will be reassigned, but this has not mitigated the anger among those working on the soon-to-end engine program. "We did not see this coming," stated Karine Dubreucq, a union representative at Viry, to L'Equipe. "This is a stab in the back - pure betrayal."
"We have developed engines here that were good enough to become world champions many times, and now that's not possible anymore?" she questioned. "They didn't even wait for the test bench."
Despite these changes, Famin reported at the Belgian GP that the development of Renault's 2026 engine was progressing impressively, with one team member commenting to L'Equipe: "We think it will be equal to the Mercedes. In the worst case, there would be a difference of 15 horsepower. We have redesigned everything in the turbo."
Dubreucq predicts that the unrest at Viry could have immediate repercussions for the Alpine team. "There are already those reporting sick," she noted. "This is going to cause damage."
Another employee raised the alarm about potential strike actions. "We might not be able to start the cars," the source cautioned. "If we stop now, there will never be a Renault engine in F1 again."
The French newspaper Ouest-France speculated, "Alpine could go on strike over the engine issue. This is a brutal decision for the 350 people involved, who deserve the right to react."
Amid these reports, Osterreich newspaper suggested that Alpine could lose the support of its major sponsor, Austrian water treatment company BWT, with the surprising potential replacement being the adult entertainment platform OnlyFans. "The premier class of motorsport could soon have an erotic racing team," quipped the correspondent.
