Alpine have finally been showing some signs of life in recent races. After spending the first five weekends of the year in a tie for last place in the constructors’, they’ve now climbed to seventh.
They bagged their first double points finish of the season in Montreal earlier this month, and followed it up with another in Barcelona last time out. Overall, they’ve now had at least one car in the top 10 at four of the last five races, and each of the last three.
This has seen them climb above Sauber, Williams and, most recently, Haas, in the championship. The team are still some way from where they want to be – they were targeting regular podiums by 2024 – but this represents tangible progress.
But the atmosphere within the team seemingly remains unstable. They’ve agreed to part ways with Esteban Ocon at the end of the season after he collided with teammate Pierre Gasly at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix.
BBC F1’s Marc Priestley feels there’s a ‘massive situation brewing’ at Enstone as Ocon’s relationship with his colleagues sours. The 27-year-old says team principal Bruno Famin has promised him equal treatment.
The exodus of key personnel continued at the end of May as operations director Rob White left his post after eight years. But Renault CEO Luca de Meo has attempted to strengthen the senior leadership by hiring controversial F1 veteran Flavio Briatore as an advisor, a move that has baffled Damon Hill.
Luca de Meo engine supply talks seem ‘bonkers’
Amid the crisis at Alpine this year, there was talk that De Meo could look to sell up and move on. The team categorically denied this, but they could drastically scale down their operation.
They’re looking into whether they can strike an engine supply deal with a rival manufacturer rather than building their own power units. This would save the company a huge amount of money ahead of the 2026 regulation changes, while potentially boosting their competitiveness.
However, it would also mean sacrificing their identity as a works team. BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson, writing in a Q&A, says this ‘sounds bonkers’ on the face of it.
But in the reporter’s eyes, it shows that De Meo is leaving no stone unturned in his attempt to transform Alpine’s fortunes. He’s clearly decided that major change is needed.
Benson wrote: “Renault chief executive officer Luca de Meo is questioning everything in his attempts to turn the team around – even whether they should abandon their in-house engine project and become a customer team.
“That sounds bonkers to many on the face of it. But at least it shows a willingness from De Meo to re-evaluate from top to bottom to try to get back to where they want to be.”
Bruno Famin has already made worrying admission about 2026 Alpine engine
Some may argue that the end of Renault’s engine operation would be bad for F1. In addition to building power units for their own team, they have previously supplied the likes of Red Bull, McLaren and Williams, with mixed results.
Audi will build their own powertrains when they enter F1 in 2026, while Red Bull will launch an independent division after splitting with Honda. The hope was that the new engine regulations would encourage rather than deter manufacturers, but this hasn’t worked in Renault’s case.
Speaking ahead of the Spanish GP, Famin admitted that he wasn’t ‘optimistic’ about the early version of their 2026 power unit. They’re already encountering some ‘problems’ at the factory.
However, the talk of a switch to Mercedes power has piqued the interest of Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, a top target for Alpine as they seek to replace Ocon, would view them as a more attractive proposition if they can strike a deal with the German giants.
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