Romain Grosjean sends two-word reaction as former team Alpine scrap F1 engine division

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Romain Grosjean has reacted to the news that his former team Alpine is set to ditch its Formula 1 engine project at the end of the 2025 season.

Alpine has announced plans for a transformation project of its engine division located in Viry Chatillon, France which has built their F1 engines for the last three decades.

Under the changes, they will no longer produce F1 power units post-2025 and the division will be transformed into ‘Hypertech Alpine’ which was described as a “new state-of-the-art engineering centre” which will focus on Renault’s engine technology for upcoming road cars.

All existing employees will be offered a new position within the Hypertech operation following a “constructive” consultation process after various Alpine employees staged protests during the Italian GP weekend.

Reacting to the news on X (formerly Twitter), former F1 driver Grosjean issued a two-word statement about the situation.

Romain Grosjean reacts to ‘sad’ closure of Alpine F1 engine division

Grosjean raced at Alpine under its Lotus guise between 2012 and 2015, before making the switch to Haas for the final years of his F1 career.

During his time at the team, he achieved 10 podiums with the team and a career-best seventh position in the Drivers’ Championship during the 2013 season.

The Frenchman came close to winning races with the team, including at the 2013 German Grand Prix when he finished just five seconds off eventual winner Sebastian Vettel.

He took to social media after hearing about the news that Renault will cease its engine operations effectively after the 2025 season.

Alpine set to switch to Mercedes power units from 2026

Renault have trailed Honda, Ferrari and Mercedes since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, owing to the restrictions power unit manufacturers have on upgrades.

Since the 2022 season, there has been an engine freeze in F1 which has impacted Renault’s ability to catch up to their rivals. This has left Alpine with a significant power loss on track of around 20bhp, which affects them most on the high-speed circuits such as Monza and Spa Francorchamps.

READ MORE: Oliver Oakes claims Alpine have ‘performance to come’ as late season upgrades arrive

Reliability has also been a key problem for Alpine this season, with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon among the first driver to take grid penalties for a change of components.

With the closure of the Renault F1 engine division, it means Alpine will likely switch to Mercedes power units from the 2026 season. Prior to Renault’s takeover in 2016, the team raced with Mercedes power units because of their reliability and performance compared to the other options.