To be honest, this is highly representative of our French population mindset. To summarize : nothing is possible, oh my god we have to work hard to succeed ! When our next holidays will be ? Sad but true.
Oh please; not that stupid cliche again. For decades carmakers cooperate among themselves, right across borders. Little chauvinistic attitudes lead nowhere these days. People increasingly have given up the "fortress mentality". Renault and Mercedes already work together on their street cars, when it makes economical sense. More and more, people here don't think in terms of France, Germany, Italy, but of the Europe that we are building. German or French brands also build their cars in "foreign countries", and the public is used to it. I cannot see the point of politicise everything, when cooperation between industries benefits everyone. We Brits don't feel "invaded" by Germany because Mercedes-AMG F1 operates in our country either.
Yep, I can see a Hi-Tech takeover in years to come now that the Enstone Team has severed technical links with Renault. If Michael Andretti had been clever, he could have chosen that path to F1, rather than stamping his feet on the ground
Trying to present Alpine (both for road cars and F1) as an independent carmaker was a total marketing nonsense, presumably from a young graduate genius. Alpine was born as an independent workshop with limited ambition (preparing and modifying Renault cars); integrating with Renault gave the means of a big company to the small operation and the image of sporting success to the large company - so that was the win-win combination. Isolating Alpine made no sense, because as good as their road cars could be, they are in a niche market and cannot afford to really fund big racing programs. The theory was that the mainstream Renault brand might have a negative impact on the Alpine brand, but IMHO that's pure BS (the same fashion has led to create the DS brand separated from Citroen, and to say the least, it has not proved very successful either).
I bet Alpine ends up selling it's F1 team although the higher ups are insisting to push forward. Seems like a hopeless cause. Time is not on their side.
That's absolutely true. Stellantis having already a collection of too many brands to manage, went on to add more by creating DS, resurrecting Lancia and now buying Leapmotors. No wonder customers are confused, and Stellantis is in trouble ! Trying to develop Alpine, neglected for decades by Renault, from a niche market small operator into a fully fledged constructor with the help of some badge engineering when the market is in turmoil because of electrification was a mistake, IMO. The customers can see through these crude marketing ploys. It looks like the new generation of CEOs in the car industry keep insulting the public, having no idea about brands DNA and customers' loyalty to their marques. They think that cars are like fridge-freezers.
I think they wait for the right moment to sell it to Hi-Tech (they already have one foot in Enstone).
What we learned about Renault's F1 engine shutdown Renault has opened up on the reasons behind its decision to abandon being an F1 engine manufacturer Jonathan Noble Oct 7, 2024, 12:58 PM Renault's decision to end its Formula 1 works engine project has been one of the biggest stories of the 2024 season. The move, only made official last week, has triggered huge controversy within the factory walls at Viry-Chatillon, where the French manufacturer's F1 power units have been made since the 1970s. But while abandoning its own engine in favour of a customer Mercedes deal for the Alpine F1 team is seismic, it was pretty interesting that the news was tucked away in a sentence in a press release that was instead focused more on the transformation of its engine facility into a high-tech engineering centre. It added to the intrigue of why things were changing in such a dramatic way, with Alpine's current leadership duo of team principal Oliver Oakes and F1 advisor Flavio Briatore both being clear that the change of engine plan was instigated by management above them. But the first answers have now appeared, with Renault CEO Luca de Meo offering some fascinating explanations of the motivations behind the call in an exclusive interview with French newspaper L'Equipe. Money talks While Renault's engine staff had repeatedly talked about the 2026 engine project being on target with its performance figures, de Meo has said that while the call was "heartbreaking" it was the bottom-line financial figures that talked in the end. "I am a manager. I run a listed company," he said. "I have to rethink the F1 project, to finally win. "So I am looking for shortcuts to achieve this. We have become invisible. Another two years like this and the project would completely deflate. We have been on a downward slope for three seasons. We had to shake all that up. With a financial logic in mind." For de Meo, the huge investment required to produce an engine – which is in the hundreds of millions of dollars – made zero sense when a cheaper customer power unit could be slotted in that would deliver just as much, if not more, performance for less than $20 million. "Real enthusiasts are not concerned by this calculation. I am," he said. De Meo went on to explain that the new rules coming for 2026 – with a greater reliance on efficiency and battery power – put things in an ever sharper focus when it came to costs. He said Viry, with 340 staff on F1, could have no chance of competing with Mercedes, who he suggests employs 900. He added: "They have test benches that we don't have. The transition to the hybrid era required powerful investments that were underestimated at the time. We operate, structurally, with three cylinders when others have eight. "When I arrived four years ago, the group wanted to stop F1. If it's still there, it's because I saved the thing. But we don't have the structure to be at the forefront of battery chemistry development, software management, energy recovery. "It's not just putting an engine on the bench and saying: 'Hey boss, I'm doing 415 kW!'" Win on Sunday, sell on Monday no more F1 has long been a valuable marketing tool for engine manufacturers, who have counted on success being followed through by showroom sales. But de Meo suggests the links between F1 and road cars have become blurred now, as people associate car brands with different things. Aston Martin's success on track, for example, should deliver an uptick in its own road car sales. The same is true for McLaren. De Meo is clear that the value of building your own engine now has disappeared. "The sponsors come for a team, not for an engine," he said. "The partners sign with McLaren, not with Mercedes under the hood. The F1 public has changed. It has expanded to include young people, women. This new clientele has a different interpretation of this sport. "We support a driver, a colour, a brand. Not an engine. Alpine, given our ranking, is losing bonuses. Sponsors are rare. We have a hole. My shareholders know how to count. Alpine must make money." He also said that his dream of making a French super team ultimately failed because the country failed to get behind it. "I wanted to make a French team, the French Ferrari," he said. "I put two French drivers in the seats: they crashed into each other. "Take a tour of an A524 with me, there is not a single French sponsor. Not one! I knocked on many doors. In vain…" The vultures are circling While Renault and Alpine have guaranteed jobs for the staff who were previously employed on its F1 engine project, de Meo accepts that not all may be willing to take on different roles. But he has revealed that those who want to stay on in F1 may be well placed, with rivals already having been in touch about luring them elsewhere. De Meo added: "If there are some who are positively driven by the idea of making an F1 engine, they will have no problem repositioning themselves. "Fred Vasseur, the boss of the Ferrari team, called us to ask if he could get some people out of our company and avoid them having gardening leave before going to work for them. OK. That's life. We're not going to imprison our guys." The ongoing sale rumours It was suggested earlier this year that Renault closing down its F1 engine project was a key step in it putting its team up for sale. This is something that has been repeatedly denied and de Meo has yet again explained why it makes no sense to go through with it. He says that, with the value of teams continuing to skyrocket under F1's boom, that there is no reason to offload the operation. "I receive calls every 15 days from financiers, eccentrics. who want to enter F1," he said. "They know that after 2026 it will cost much more. "If you are given £1 billion today to take the team, they will be able to resell it for double, two years later. It is full of speculators here. "I have refused 50 times. A team will soon be worth between $3 and 5 billion. I am not going to sell; I am not stupid. "Being in F1 is essential for the Alpine brand. We are in a closed club. It gives credibility to the brand among car enthusiasts. We do not need this money."
Yes! Mercedes power, reduce overhead costs, increase in team value - the right decision. They need a good chassis to integrate the new PU and maybe good results will be obtained.
CEO Luca de Meo claims the Alpine F1 team will collapse without an engine programme shutdown. He also stated the team is losing sponsors and bonuses due to poor performance. Side note: Read Claire Williams new book on "How to lose an F1 team" Also another read by Monisha Kalteborn on "The demise and failure of an F1 team." A beneficial book by Gene HAAS: "How to survive in todays F1 culture without winning anything....not even a race."
Interesting look at how Alpine took 4 months to provide a completely new upgrade to aid them in moving up the standings this past season. Will be interesting to see how that works next year and with the eventual integration of the Mercedes PU. The 'unrealistic' F1 comeback that saved a miserable season https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/how-alpine-saved-its-miserable-f1-season-with-brand-new-car/
Interesting look at Alpine here as they move towards Mercedes PU and future plans. Oakes appears to have a calm and good focus on the team as it is now. Why Alpine is taking the Mercedes gearbox for just one season Alpine made the surprise move to ditch its own powertrains for the future regulation set Jake Boxall-Legge Filip Cleeren Jan 5, 2025, 9:58 AM Image Unavailable, Please Login Alpine's decision to take Mercedes' Formula 1 gearbox for 2026 will give it "headroom" to develop elsewhere for the next series of regulations before building its own in 2027. Despite protestations from the personnel at the Renault Group's Viry-Chatillon powertrain headquarters, the decision was made to shutter the French manufacturer's 2026 engine project and assume a customer deal with Mercedes for the dawn of the new rules. This came as CEO Luca de Meo and executive adviser Flavio Briatore wished to give the team a clear benchmark to the likes of McLaren and Mercedes, while also reducing the group's F1 overhead costs. Team principal Oliver Oakes explained the team's decision to also take the Mercedes gearbox for 2026 only, stating that he expects the team to build its own for 2027 and beyond. "We're taking that [gearbox] just for one year in 2026. It gives us a bit of headroom to during that regulation change to sort of have one less thing to worry about," Oakes said in an exclusive interview with Autosport. "But our own gearbox is in the car now and we're performing, and it will be the same in 2027 as well going forward. "It's just purely balancing resource for that one season in 2026, and everybody in the team, they've designed, manufactured and built and raced a great gearbox. And it's clear to see the current results as well." Oakes expanded on Alpine's preparations over the next two seasons, stating that the team was not overtly looking to entirely sacrifice results in 2025 - unlike many of its midfield rivals; Williams, for example, has been vocal in its decision to focus most of its resources on its 2026 car. He suggested that some of those teams may be openly targeting 2026 as a bid to relieve pressure on themselves in 2025, although conceded that he'd prefer to "go to town" on putting resources into the next generation of cars. "[Balancing 2025 and 2026], that's the daily topic at the moment, I think because some teams have been quite vocal about sacrificing 2025. "How much of that you believe or not, I don't know. Maybe they're sort of trying to move some pressure off themselves because most teams know already in December where they're looking for 2025. And you wonder when teams come out with comments like that... "From my side, we want to have a good '25. We're pretty humble that that's not going to be easy because there's quite a lot of carryover from this year. "And we know we'd love to go more to town on development and balancing resource for 2026, but I guess everybody's going to be judged the next three years; I think people will judge us on he job we did 23-24-25-26-27 as a period of time rather than just in that moment in F1. "I'm new in the job, but I find it quite interesting reading stuff online that a lot of people don't take into context, the sort of background and the build-up to things. "And the situation we were in as a team, it wasn't just because of the winter. Things were signed off way earlier. And I think it's always important to look at the global view. " https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-alpine-is-taking-the-mercedes-gearbox-for-just-one-season/10686178/
BREAKING: Oakes resigns from Alpine with immediate effect, Briatore takes over Alpine Formula 1 team principal Oliver Oakes has issued a shock resignation from his role with the outfit; Flavio Briatore will take charge. It is unclear if Oakes’ resignation is at all related to the driver swap, though Oakes has been a public supporter of Doohan during the driver’s F1 campaign. Flavio Briatore has been a longtime member of the Enstone-based outfit, serving as team principal of Benetton and Renault. Under his guidance, the team secured three World Constructors’ Championships and four World Drivers’ Championships, though his role in the 2008 Crashgate scandal saw him ousted from Renault. He returned to the team, now named Alpine, during the 2024 season as an executive advisor. Now, he will be returning to his leadership role.
The Oakes story seems to be taking few unexpected twists…. He’s on the run and has fled the country! This from racingnews365:- https://www.instagram.com/p/DJZiuw9xwu5/?igsh=MWEyMXViYWRhdTJpMQ==
A few months ago, a journalist wrote that De Meo, the Renault boss, recruited Briatore to find a buyer for the Alpine team. It starts to look plausible now that he is in control.
So he is still crashing lol. He didnt do any favors for Wiliams! Inside-information about Franco Colapinto crashing his Alpine during testing has been claimed. Jack Doohan shortly after the F1 Miami Grand Prix that he would be replaced. Reserve driver Colapinto has been called up to their race car for the next five races before another team evaluation. But Karun Chandhok has told the Sky Sports F1 podcast that Colapinto was picked despite crashing in testing for Alpine. “That’s right. They tested at Qatar and Monza. I think he had a shunt, or an off, in those,” Chandhok said. “Colapinto is a good driver but we only saw a small snapshot. It’s hard to judge in that small window. “A lot of hype came out of South America that he would be their next world champion. “It would have been the wrong thing if he was promoted to the Red Bull seat. There was a rumour. It would have been way too early. “There is no doubt the crash damage bill he caused at Williams was not small. The one in Vegas, Williams were annoyed about that.”
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cd0le931elpo Flavio Briatore heads into this weekend's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the helm of the embattled Alpine team - but he is not team principal, an employee or even a licence holder in Formula 1. Alpine's former team principal, Briton Oliver Oakes, resigned on 6 May, citing "personal reasons". Briatore, who is employed on a consultancy basis by parent company Renault, is "covering the duties previously performed by Oakes", Alpine has said. But it has emerged he is not the person responsible for the team in the eyes of governing body the FIA. He cannot be - because he is not a member of staff, and does not hold an F1 licence, as is required of people in such authority by the FIA's competitor's staff registration system. In the absence of a new team principal, racing director Dave Greenwood is the "dedicated responsible person", an Alpine spokesperson said. Greenwood rejoined Alpine in January from Oakes' HiTech organisation. He had previously been at Ferrari, Manor/Marussia, and Renault, where he worked under Briatore. Asked why Briatore is not a staff member or licence holder, an Alpine spokesperson said: "Flavio came into the team as executive adviser and remains a consultant. There's nothing more to it, or to read into it." An FIA spokesperson said: "Alpine have complied with all regulatory requirements relating to the departure of Mr Oakes, and have submitted their updated staff registration.
So Mercedes power to the rescue?? Briatore targeting Alpine F1 wins in 2026 and a title challenge from 2027
Cola-WHO? Good job Flav........please leave. Alpine's driver change is achieving nothing Image Unavailable, Please Login Flavio Briatore said during the Spanish GP weekend that more time was needed to judge Franco Colapinto after he replaced Jack Doohan at the start of this triple-header, and Barcelona was Colapinto's first real race after a baptism of fire (and a crash) at Imola then an unenviable trip to Monaco while short on time in the car and confidence. Then Colapinto's Barcelona efforts were compromised by a gearbox problem in qualifying that robbed him of a chance of getting into Q2. That had looked possible after an underwhelming weekend came alive on his second Q1 run, which was decent if aided by track evolution. In the race, Colapinto never got going. He was stuck at the back of the midfield and had what Briatore called "a disappointing race, not progress as much as we hoped".
