Renault Group chief executive officer Luca de Meo has reiterated the French company’s position regarding its Formula 1 outfit: Alpine is not for sale!
The Enstone squad is seemingly stuck in a precarious position in F1. Following a string of upper management disruptions in 2023, more personnel changes have impacted the team’s stability this season and ultimately its performances.
Alpine has consistently lagged its upper tier mid-field rivals and there are currently no tangible signs of improvement on the horizon.
The team’s struggles have inevitably fueled once again speculation about its future, with many pundits believing that Renault should cut its losses and offload the team while taking advantage of the hefty evaluations enjoyed by the sport’s outfits.
Andretti Global would certainly welcome an opportunity to acquire Alpine’s assets while Chinese automotive giant Geely is also rumored to be seeking a foothold in the sport.
But de Meo, even in the face of sustained adversity, insists he won’t abandon Alpine, confident in its ability to turn its fortunes around
“I want to make this very clear. There is no way we are going to give up,” the Renault boss affired in an interview with British magazine Autocar.
“It’s not my style. We will not sell even a part of this thing. We don’t need the money.
“I’ve had people making offers left and right, then talking in the press about it. But we’re not interested. It would be stupid, and I won’t do it.”
While expressing his commitment to Alpine, de Meo suggests he’s not in denial about the team’s current reality, describing a backdrop formed by historical engine woes and a more recent “screw-up” by the team’s chassis department.
“When we began the hybrid era [in 2014], our engine didn’t perform,” he said. “We had been world champions with Red Bull but with hybrid, things went wrong.
“Even the engine we developed in 2021 had a 0.2s to 0.5s disadvantage every lap. And this year we’ve screwed up with the car. If you combine everything, we’re up to 1.5s from where we need to be.”
To remove Alpine from its current rut, de Meo outlined three crucial elements that the team needs to address in order to improve its fortunes.
“The first is a quality team of top-notch people,” the Italian explained. “The second is racing rage, an obsession to win. The third is collaboration and trust throughout the team, a spirit of cooperation that makes things seem easier.
“Alpine should be one of the teams in F1 with the broadest shoulders, because it has the backing of the Renault Group.
“I don’t think we deserve to be a top team at present, but we’re not in F1 to be tourists so we need to work hard.
“Sure, we’ve made mistakes. It happens. But I think we’re right to put F1 at the core of Alpine, and to paint the car blue to represent a distinctive automotive culture.
“This brand is totally legitimate because it was always in competition. But it can do much better, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity.”
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