Work is underway within the Renault Group to build the Alpine road car brand with that project set to absorb the resources its F1 team currently uses to develop power units.
Alpine team boss Bruno Famin confirmed the news in Belgium, along with confirmation that he would also leave the organisation.
Famin will step aside as team boss to focus on the broader Alpine project at the end of August. It has been suggested Hitech founder Oliver Oakes is in line to replace the Frenchman.
Renault’s departure from the F1 grid comes as no surprise.
As Speedcafe first reported in May, the power unit department is a liability for the organisation and a barrier to its potential sale.
The Renault power unit has been the least successful in F1 in recent years and its development comes with a significant cost (set to be capped at $130 million from 2026).
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That compares to a customer unit which, on current evidence, would prove more successful with a price tag of $18.5 million.
“The project is not the power unit,” Famin explained of Renault’s decision to exit F1 as a power unit manufacturer.
“The project is much, much bigger than that.
“It’s a transformation project at the level of the Alpine brand.
“The Alpine brand is developing as a huge, huge project of development with selling new models in the coming years, with high end technology.
“The project, which has been presented at the start of the week to the staff representative in Viry-Chatillon, is to reallocate the resources from one side to another – one side being the development of the Formula 1 power unit, which is already being made in Viry, to dedicate those resources and skills to developing new technologies for the brand.”
The Alpine road car business has announced intentions to significantly expand its range with plans for a hot hatch based on the all-electric Renault 5 and an SUV-cross-GT dubbed the GT X-Over. There are electric versions of the ageing A110 planned, too, and a new A310.
The intent is to develop the brand into an €8 billion business with seven cars in its line-up with plans to go 100 percent electric through its Alpine Performance Platform.
Last year, Renault Group and Chinese brand Geely entered a joint venture agreement to develop 17 engine plants and five research and development centres.
Speedcafe reported last month that the F1 power unit workforce was an asset that could be well used elsewhere within the organisation.
With Renault set to leave, though the Alpine brand to remain, it leaves the Enstone team in need of a power unit supply for 2026.
It’s understood discussions remain ongoing with Mercedes, though Honda is also a potential candidate.
No timeline has been laid out for when that point will be resolved, though it is in the team’s best interest to lock it in sooner rather than later so designers can begin work on integrating the unit into the 2026 car.
In the meantime, regulations compel Renault to continue its supply for 2025.
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