Alpine on the up: After a disastrous start to the season, the Renault factory team has been able to score points in the last four race weekends in a row and is in eighth place in the constructors’ standings. However, some in the paddock believe that things could possibly go even better for the team from Enstone, Great Britain, if Alpine were to do without the Renault factory engine in the future.
On paper, a factory power unit offers advantages in vehicle development. However, the Renault engine has been considered the weakest powertrain in Formula 1 for years and may therefore cost Alpine more lap time than the basic advantage of a factory engine would allow.
Wolff: Would like to replace Aston Martin
That is why rumors have been circulating for weeks about a possible end to the engine program in Viry-Chatillon in favor of a customer engine. Mercedes has been mentioned repeatedly in particular, as they will lose a current customer team, Aston Martin, in 2026. Team Silverstone will then become a factory team, owned by Honda.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is at least open to a future Alpine customer team. “We like the idea of replacing Aston Martin with someone else,” said Wolff on Friday at the team boss press conference in Silverstone.
Wolff makes it clear: Alpine must make a decision first
For Wolff, the main argument is the learning effect that Mercedes gains from an additional customer team. “As an organization, we are structured in such a way that the more power units, the better it is in terms of accelerating certain developments or reliability,” says the Austrian.
At the same time, however, Wolff also made it clear that the depth of the talks had so far been manageable – and that the ball was now in Alpine’s court regarding a possible collaboration: “Alpine will make a decision as to whether they want to continue their Formula 1 engine program or not. And only when they have made this strategic decision would we delve deeper into our agreements. But we are open to it and we have told them that.”
James Vowles warns: Alpine would be 6 to 12 months behind
So Mercedes is willing to work with Alpine on the engine side. And Williams and McLaren, who unlike Aston Martin will continue to use Mercedes power in 2026, would also welcome Alpine as a new Mercedes addition. “What is good for HPP (Mercedes High Performance Powertrains; ed.) is, in our view, good for McLaren,” says McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
Williams team boss James Vowles agrees: “The more power you have in circulation, the more lessons you can learn from it.” On a purely political level, there is nothing standing in the way of a future Mercedes customer team Alpine. However, opinions differ as to whether this would also make sense on a sporting level.
“McLaren and we have been working with HPP for many, many months to get the 2026 concept right,” Vowles said. “So whatever you do, you’re already six to twelve months behind the other three teams. That’s quite a punishment overall. That’s not to say it’s unattainable, but there will be areas where you’ll have to make compromises.”
Will Alpine make a decision before the summer break?
Brown advises Alpine to make a quick decision given the short preparation time – and believes that Alpine also sees it that way. “I would imagine that they will want to make a decision before the summer break in order to have as much lead time as possible to learn about the power unit and how it works,” said the American.
However, Toto Wolff does not believe that a decision will be made so early. “No, that would be far too complicated, long-lasting and impactful a decision for Alpine,” the 52-year-old says.
As far as Alpine’s sporting reality in 2024 is concerned, Team Enstone got off to a cautious start at the British GP. Tenth place for Esteban Ocon in FP1 was the best they could manage. Pierre Gasly, who had to skip the first free practice session in favor of Jack Doohan, will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from the last place on the grid anyway. The Frenchman has exceeded the permitted quota of engines for this season. You can find an overview of all Formula 1 penalties, warnings and investigations in 2024 here: