Renault confirms ending its engine programme at the end of 2025
Renault has confirmed they will end its works engine programme at the end of next season, ending its almost fifty-year involvement as a manufacturer. On Monday the French manufacturer announced its engine plant in Viry-Chatillon would be transformed into “an engineering centre of excellence” by the end of 2024.
The decision comes ahead of the introduction of new engine regulations to F1 in 2026, with the Renault Group-owned Alpine team now expected to agree to a deal to have their power units supplied by Mercedes.
Renault has been an engine manufacturer in F1 since 1977 and apart from 1987-88 and 1998-2000 has been involved in the sport for nearly half a century. It is understood that the Alpine team will be supplied by Mercedes from 2026.
The manufacturer is one of the most successful in the sport, having won ten constructors’ titles and nine drivers’ championships, with Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, and the Williams, Benetton and Red Bull teams. Renault’s team also won drivers’ and constructors’ title doubles with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.
However since 2014 the team has had limited success and has not been challenging for championships, there drop in competitiveness sees them currently ninth in the constructors. A statement said, “As a result of the consultation process with the employee representatives, during which discussions were constructive and an independent assessment was conducted, Alpine’s management confirms its project to transform the site into a centre of engineering and high-tech excellence by late 2024.”
“Formula 1 activities at Viry, excluding the development of a new engine, will continue until the end of the 2025 season.” The decision follows months of speculation about the future of the engine programme and follows protests by unions in recent weeks in Paris and Monza. But this has no effect on the decision of the board to end the programme which has been expected for months.
Renault’s withdrawal ahead of the 2026 season means the sport has lost a manufacturer when the regulations have attracted Honda, Audi and Ford.
Renault is however setting up an “F1 monitoring unit” which would “aim to maintain employees’ knowledge and skills in this sport and remain at the forefront of innovation” with the other projects to which the factory would now be devoted.
The statement said all employees affected by the decision would be offered a position within the new structure, which has been named Alpine Hypertech.
A statement from the Alpine F1 team said: “This is a decision taken at Group level and by Alpine Management. The team remains fully focused on the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship and working hard to deliver the best on-track results for the remainder of the season.”
Philippe Krief, Alpine CEO, said: “Creating this Hypertech Alpine centre is key to Alpine’s development strategy and, more broadly, to the Group’s innovation strategy. It is a turning point in the history of the Viry-Châtillon site, which will ensure the continuity of a savoir-faire and the inclusion of its rare skills in the Group’s ambitious future while strengthening Alpine’s position as an ‘innovation garage’.