The aggrieved Renault staff working on Alpine's 2026 Formula 1 power unit issued a bold statement, criticizing the French brand on multiple fronts. Their message came just a day after Renault officially announced its decision to become a customer team from 2026, with plans to most likely source power units from Mercedes.
In July, Renault notified employees at its Viry-Châtillon and Enstone facilities about a potential project review that could see the engine division reduce its Formula 1 operations. This sparked protests at both the Italian Grand Prix in Monza and the team's headquarters, as staff expressed their concerns about the looming changes.
The staff argued that the 2026 engine project held far more promise than acknowledged. After years of dedication to its development, they remained committed to keeping Alpine as a full works team in Formula 1, especially given the encouraging progress shown by the 2026 power unit.
Despite the staff's efforts, the French brand has decided to move forward in a new direction, officially announcing that its F1 engine facility will be transformed into 'Alpine Hypertech,' an engineering center dedicated to pioneering advanced technology for future Renault and Alpine road cars.
In response, the staff from Alpine has collectively voiced its feelings in a bold statement. As reported by Racingnews365.com, it read:
"This choice is endorsed by the [Renault] Group, which wishes to reduce the financial risk surrounding F1, even though no serious study has been conducted to assess the impact on future sales and the prestige of the brand.
"Partnership solutions were rejected by the Group, even though they would have made it possible to meet several objectives: maintaining an F1 activity, reducing development and operating costs, maintaining all skills, the possibility of bringing an already largely developed and promising RE26 engine until the 2026 season.
"The content, resources and sustainability of the new projects that Management wishes to bring to Viry still appear largely imprecise.
"The communicated sizing of the F1 monitoring unit (staff and budget) still seems too low, and calls into question the potential return of Alpine as an engine manufacturer in the long term.
"The history of the Viry site shows that contrary decisions have often been taken, and demonstrates the importance of maintaining highly qualified skills for the future in order to leave the door open to a return to F1 when the regulations and the financial context of the shareholder make it more attractive.
"This implementation of the project already seals the first very short-term consequences (within 3 months) on jobs and training:
"The Viry-Châtillon site will go from 500 to 334 jobs on January 1st, with the end of the contracts of many service providers
"The loss of around a hundred indirect jobs at the main partners by the end of 2024; the end of the Alpine Mechanical Excellence Competition (CEMA) supported by the Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity and the Ministry of National Education and Youth, carrying great values of commitment to equal opportunities promoting diversity to promote a sector of young talents
"Generally speaking, the cessation of F1 motorisation, the lack of maturity of the projects and the loss of confidence in the management pose a major risk to the departure of critical skills from the Viry site.
"Despite the turmoil of the last two months, the Viry team has continued to develop the power of the 2026 engine that Alpine is depriving itself of. This decision, against the tide, causes Alpine to miss out on its sporting history.
"For all these reasons, the CSE staff representatives unanimously issued an unfavourable opinion on the transformation project.
"We call on the public authorities to defend the sustainability of employment on the Viry-Châtillon site."
