Disappointment as F1 prepares to lose an engine manufacturer · RaceFans

Formula 1 team bosses reacted with disappointment to the news Renault plans to bring an end to its decades as an engine manufacturer.

Alpine team principal Bruno Famin confirmed yesterday the manufacturer is in discussions to become an engine customer from 2026. It intends to use its engine facility at Viry-Chatillon to work on projects for Alpine’s road cars.

Renault first entered F1 in 1977 and has been present as an engine manufacturer since then aside from absences in 1987-88 and 1998-2000.

RB team principal Laurent Mekies admitted “it’s always a bad news when you lose an OEM [original equipment manufacturer].”

F1 expected to see the number of manufacturers competing grow to six in 2026, as Audi arrive, Ford join forces with Red Bull and Honda return. But while Alpine will remain as a chassis manufacturer, Renault will no longer produce its own power units.

“Obviously one of the big targets of these new regulations in 2026 was to attract more OEMs,” said Mekies. “So ultimately, if it goes as Bruno said, it means that we’ll get plus one with Audi and minus one with Alpine [Renault]. So I don’t think it’s good news.

“However, it comes, luckily, at a time where there are many manufacturers in Formula 1. So I would say that the sport can well afford this change. But it’s never good news when we lose a PU manufacturer.”

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Frederic Vasseur, one of Famin’s predecessors as team principal at Alpine, when it competed as Renault, said he was disappointed by the news.

“I’m more focused on the people of Renault,” he said. “I know very well the company that I spent years with. I started my career in 1992 with Renault and I’m profoundly attached to Renault and I think it’s a shame.”

However Alessandro Alunni Bravi, team representative of Sauber which will become Audi in 2026, said Renault’s decision should not be considered a negative reflection on F1’s plans for its new engine regulations.

“It seems that this is a decision that is not linked, of course, to the new PU regulation or to the trajectory that Formula 1 is taking towards 2026,” he said. “I think that the PU regulations are very attractive for new manufacturers and of course Audi is the perfect example that thanks to this new regulation there is an interest from the automotive [manufacturers] to be in Formula 1 because it’s the pillar of the technology and the best testing bench for the future mobility technical solutions.

“So I think that is something different from the decision from Renault. And I think as a Formula 1, we need to be clear on this, you know. Sometimes it can happen.

“But now, as Fred said, is important the people. And I hope that the project that Bruno is developing will go forward because Bruno himself and the people at Viry-Châtillon that I also know personally deserve.”

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