Oct.2 (GMM) Furious employees have called on French authorities to step in, after the Renault Group decided to scrap Alpine’s works Formula 1 engine program.
The group of staff at the Viry-Chatillon site, strongly backed by the union, reacted to the seismic news by insisting they “regret and deplore” the decision.
Alpine’s F1 team, also based in Enstone (UK), are now widely expected to simply buy customer Mercedes power units as well as the entire rear end of the works Mercedes team from 2026.
“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,” the disgruntled Viry employees stated.
They said Renault CEO Luca de Meo “rejected” their counterproposals that would have enabled Alpine’s 2026 engine, which reached an advanced stage of development, to see the race track.
Instead, Renault is transforming the F1 engine factory into ‘Hypertech Alpine’ – a plan the angry staff members call “imprecise”.
“The communicated sizing of the F1 monitoring cell also seems too low, and calls into question the potential return of Alpine as an engine supplier in the long term,” the staff added.
They said staff numbers at Viry will plummet from 500 at present to 334 on January 1, due to expiring contracts that will not be renewed.
“Generally speaking, the cessation of F1 engine production, the lack of maturity of the projects brought forward and the loss of confidence in the management pose a major risk of critical skills leaving the Viry site,” the statement continued.
“Despite the turmoil of the last two months, the Viry team has continued to develop the 2026 power unit that Alpine is depriving itself of,” they added. “This decision against the tide causes Alpine to miss out on its sporting history.
“We call on the public authorities to defend the sustainability of employment on the Viry-Chatillon site.”