Alpine confirms conditional engine deal with Andretti-Cadillac

Alpine boss Laurent Rossi has confirmed that the French manufacturer will supply its power unit to Andretti-Cadillac if the US outfit is granted an entry in Formula 1.

Andretti is set to submit to the FIA its 'expression of interest', kick starting its official process to join F1 as the sport's eleventh team, perhaps as early as 2025.

However, given the tepid reaction to Andretti's endeavor by Formula 1 and several of its constituents, there are no guarantees that the General Motors-supported project will be given access to motorsport's elite in the coming months.

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"We agreed that if they get their licence to run in Formula One, then we will provide them with a powertrain," Rossi told Reuters at the launch in London of Alpine's 2023 car.

"But it's up to them to show that they can join the Formula 1 circus and for that they need to go through the hoops, the process in place where they submit applications and they show that they bring value to the F1 circus and teams in general.

"It's for them to prove it and for the others to assess. If they join, we'll be happy to join them. If they don't it means that all in all it didn't work out."

Contrary to its fellow manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Powertrains/Honda, Renault-Alpine does not currently supply its hardware to a customer outfit in F1. But that is not a firm commitment on the part of the French company.

"It's a nice to have, it's not a must have," explained Rossi.

"We could use a second team because you accumulate more data across four cars than you do with two. But it's a drag on your team as well, so you need to be completely well structured. We couldn't do that two years ago."

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