McLaren at risk of losing Mercedes engine deal if Toto Wolff secures stake in Alpine

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McLaren’s status as a Mercedes customer is in danger if the Silver Arrows acquire a stake in the Alpine team, according to a report.

Joined by the other key Mercedes shareholders, Toto Wolff is pursuing shares held by Otro Capital. The consortium currently own a 24% stake in Alpine.

Wolff is adamant that Alpine won’t become a Mercedes B-team, a criticism that has been levelled at the Red Bull-owned Racing Bulls squad. But if it goes through, the deal will clearly have a major impact on the F1 landscape.

Who is the best person to run Alpine in Formula 1: Christian Horner, Toto Wolff or Flavio Briatore?

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McLaren could be fighting Williams for Mercedes engine deal

Mercedes have indicated that they would prefer to supply two teams, rather than three, during the next F1 rules cycle, which begins in 2030.

What’s more, it’s said that some at Brackley want Mercedes to drop McLaren as a customer after the Woking outfit won back-to-back world championships. They are effectively strengthening a direct rival, after all.

• READ MORE: Damon Hill thinks Oscar Piastri has come to a depressing realisation about McLaren this season

As reported by Autosport Web, Alpine will secure one of the two slots long-term if Mercedes buy a stake. That could leave McLaren and Williams battling it out for the last spot in the roster.

McLaren and Mercedes reunited in 2021 after Zak Brown’s squad had stints with Honda and Renault. The engineers at Brixworth appear to have built the standout engine for the new regulations, strengthening their status as the most desirable partner.

Are Mercedes engineers at McLaren’s factory withholding information?

There has been tension between Mercedes and McLaren at the start of 2026, with Andrea Stella publicly expressing frustration at a perceived lack of support.

Mercedes have fulfilled their regulatory obligations by handling McLaren the same specification, but the works outfit are clearly able to unlock far more performance from the power unit at this stage.

Speaking on F1-Insider’s YouTube channel, Ralf Bach relayed McLaren’s concerns about the staff dispatched from Brixworth.

Bach said: “McLaren believe that the Mercedes engineers who are assigned to the team either don’t know everything or don’t want to say everything about how to optimally programme this engine.”

If McLaren feel that Mercedes are withholding important information, then perhaps they will voluntarily seek a new supplier, but there is no obvious alternative.

Even if Honda weren’t struggling, the memories of 2015-2017 are still too painful for the Japanese manufacturer to be an option. Red Bull and Ferrari are unlikely to help a longtime rival.

That just leaves Audi and General Motors, but the Americans won’t debut their engine until 2029, which will be too late. Perhaps McLaren will follow Red Bull and set up their own powertrain division, though that would be a monumental undertaking.