Alpine boss Bruno Famin has ruled out a complete sale of its Formula 1 team despite revealing it’s assessing a possible customer engine deal from the 2026 season.
There have been rumours in recent months that the Renault engine division could be abandoned and Alpine could receive powertrains from an existing manufacturer.
Flavio Briatore, who has returned to the side as an Executive Advisor, is reported to have headed the plan and the Italian has set his sights on Mercedes as a supplier.
Famin, who has announced that he will step down as team boss, has divulged those involved on the engine side have been told about Alpine’s potential new direction.
“The Alpine brand is developing, has a huge project of development, we’re selling new models in the coming years with high-end technology, very ambitious to build this new sporting brand and to make it known outside of France, everywhere in the world,” Famin expressed.
“The project which has been presented at the beginning of the week to the staff representative in Viry Châtillon is to reallocate the resources from one side to another, one side being the development of the Formula 1 power unit, which is being made in Viry, to dedicate those resources and skills to developing new technologies for the brand, for the new product of the brand.
“And then one of the consequences of this project, if it’s accepted, would be then for Alpine F1 team to buy a power unit instead of developing his own power unit.
“Then we’ll have more resources to develop the brand and the different power units to race for the Formula 1 team.”
Famin has clarified that Alpine is angling to partner with a marque once all-new technical regulations are introduced in 2026 rather than rush integration next season.
“The project which has been presented to the staff representative in Viry and to different governance bodies is talking about 26 all models on the power unit,” he said.
“Of course, we are talking to different manufacturers and for the time being, of course, nothing is done because, again, it’s a project we cannot, we have to follow in France, unions.
“We have a social process very strict to follow and we have to follow it very strictly and we cannot take any decision until having reached the end of that process.
“For the time being, we are talking to some manufacturers but we cannot sign anything until this process is over.”
Famin has ruled out Alpine being for sale.
However, Famin denied that Alpine exploring a change in how it operates in the sport is a sign that Renault is behind on preparations with the revised engine formula.
“Let’s not forget that the guys in Viry are making an amazing job,” he highlighted.
“We all know that since 2014 we don’t have the best engine in Viry, but it’s one of the engines which improved the most since 2014.
“Now we’re still not exactly at the top, but the improvement has been very good, and the job which is being done in Viry to prepare the 2026 engine is incredible.
“We fixed a very high target, and I am confident that we can reach that target.
“The figures we have from the dyno are very good, all the people are very professional, very skilled, and it’s a very difficult situation there.
“I think all the people, they are worth that we dedicate the necessary time to be with them in this project which is huge.”
The Frenchman has quashed the notion that Alpine giving up its work status will become a disadvantage as it has to mould its chassis around a rival’s engine design.
“There is a bit of potential in developing the integration, but it’s quite theoretical at the end of the story,” he elucidated.
“All the manufacturers are working very closely in the project with the teams and all the integration is incredibly optimized.
“If we take a Ferrari or a Mercedes engine, I’m quite convinced that all the integration, all the packaging will be already very good.
Meanwhile, Famin has also repeated that Alpine using a customer partnership would not be an indicator that the brand’s top brass could be moving to sell the squad.
“To answer your question, the Formula 1 project remains a key project for the Alpine brand,” he continued.
“It’s thanks to Formula 1 that we want to develop the brand globally.
“The project is just reallocating the resources to develop the brand better, always based on the pillar of motorsport and mainly Formula 1.”
Source link : https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/26/alpine-assessing-2026-customer-engine-deal-rules-out-f1-sale/
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Publish date : 2024-07-26 16:20:00
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