Alpine boss Oliver Oakes sends ‘cruel’ message to Renault staff after ending F1 engine division

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Groupe Renault has pulled the plug on its Formula 1 engine division, but Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes has offered no sentimentality with his message to staff in Viry.

The French manufacturer will stop producing power units after the 2025 season having now decided against designing engines for Formula 1’s 2026 regulations. It leaves Alpine without an engine deal as the Enstone-based team continues, only without full manufacturer status.

Alpine are expected to secure Mercedes engines for the 2026 season with Aston Martin set to become the works Honda squad. The Silver Arrows currently supply four of the 10 teams, with Honda working with two, Ferrari working with three and Renault only supplying Alpine.

Oliver Oakes admits ‘no one cares’ if Alpine win with Renault engines

Groupe Renault conceding that its F1 engines are not competitive enough to justify creating new power units under the 2026 regulations brings the shutters down on almost 50 years of the Viry-Chatillon factory’s programme. The first Renault engine raced in Formula 1 in 1977.

Only twice since 1977 has Formula 1 not seen Renault engines race around the world with a break from 1987-88 and from 1998-2000. The engines have further powered 178 Grand Prix wins, 12 constructors’ titles and 11 drivers’ titles – including two of each for Renault – so far.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and chassis regulations

But Oakes, who became Alpine’s team principal this July, has zero sentimentality for the Viry facility if Renault cannot build competitive F1 power units. Instead, while Oakes notes it is a ‘cruel’ stance to take, he believes no one cares who builds their engine as long as it can win.

Oakes told RacingNews365: “I guess cruelly, for me as the team principal, I just want to have the best engine and go racing.

“I would say there’s a big history there from the Viry and Enstone side. But I would also say, on the other side, if you’re winning, no one really cares what’s under the hood – and I mean that nicely.”

Alpine could get F1’s best engine with a Mercedes deal for 2026

Groupe Renault has decided that Formula 1 introducing new power units with a 50-50 split between electric and combustion power in 2026 is the right time for Viry to stop producing engines. Renault has often had the worst engine since the turbo-hybrid era started in 2014.

Daniel Ricciardo used Renault engines to win three times with Red Bull during 2014, and the team from Milton Keynes would pick up nine further wins from 2016-18 using Renault units but badged as TAG Heuer. But Esteban Ocon took the last win with a Renault engine in 2021.

Renault even resorted to seeking a performance equalisation between the engines in 2023, having realised its units were ‘significantly down’ on power compared to Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda. Yet those plans were later withdrawn and now the plug has been pulled at Viry.

If dropping their own engines in favour of a power unit supply deal with Mercedes pays off, Alpine will not regret Renault’s decision if they are competitive in 2026. Early expectations are that Mercedes will build the best engines for the 2026 regulations, as well, like in 2014.