An era in F1 is coming to an end: Renault confirms the stop to the production of engines for F1. A hard blow for the world of motorsport because the French company has been a point of reference in this sector for almost 50 years.
But behind this sensational farewell – as early as 2026 – there are two interesting implications that should be underlined.
The first is that electrification and the famous green transition require a research and development effort never seen before. At least if – as the French company wants to do – it tries to avoid buying components from China. So it is necessary to divert the work of engineers from F1 to series cars: the Viry-Châtillon plant, in the Essonne department, south of Paris, where Renault has so far conceived and produced its Formula 1 engines, will be converted ( textual) in an “engineering and high technology center of excellence as early as the end of 2024”. And this is kind of a torpedo in the bow for the concept of F1 serving as a research laboratory.
The second “interesting aspect” we were talking about before concerns costs: the group led by the Italian manager, Luca De Meo, aims for the future to purchase the engine for the Alpine F1s externally (from Mercedes). And in the announcement, sensationally, it talks about costs. So we discover that making an engine at home costs 120 million, while buying it from someone else involves an expense – at most – of 17 million euros. And this risks further upsetting the world of F1 given that in the eternal challenge of cutting costs – in the future – we will have fewer and fewer brands that will try their hand at producing engines. Of course, Formula Indy (where there are only two engine suppliers, Honda and Chevrolet) is far away. But not at this rate…
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