Formula 1 | Flavio Briatore’s return sparked rumors about Alpine’s future

of Spain During the GP weekend, the hottest topic of conversation in the pit was Alpine’s F1 team. The reason wasn’t the car’s performance, even though the 9th and 10th places were a significant step forward after a miserable early season.

The reason for the uproar around Alpine was Motorsport news. According to it, the car giant Renault is considering abandoning its F1 power source project, and Alpine would become a customer garage of another engine manufacturer.

According to Motorsport, Alpine’s management, with the team manager at the forefront Bruno Faminwould have held exploratory discussions with other power source manufacturers about a possible customer mill from the 2026 season.

In 2026, the era of new power sources begins. At that time, the rule changes lead to the fact that the car’s power output is divided equally between gasoline and electric engines. It is a significant change from current turbo hybrids.

Renault is committed to continuing in F1 through the new rules era, but Motorsport’s news put that project into question.

This would be a huge upheaval in F1, as factory teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes or Renault still have a significant advantage over customer teams such as McLaren or Aston Martin. A team that manufactures its own power sources is better able to design the rest of its cars around the engine it builds itself.

The problem for Alpine and Renault has been that, despite this advantage, the team’s performance has been at a miserable level throughout the turbo hybrid era.

Renault failed so badly in the regulation era that started in 2014 that the major team Red Bull broke the contract between the parties. Even at the moment, Renault’s engine is about 20–30 horsepower less efficient than Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda’s equivalents.

The French company has performed clearly the weakest of all engine manufacturers in the era of turbo hybrids. Its own team has won only one F1 race, when Esteban Ocon drove first in Hungary 2021.

In 2014, Red Bull won three races with Renault engines.

What is Flavio Briatore’s role as Alpine’s advisor? There is a lot of speculation going on about it. Picture: Hasan Bratic / ZUMA

Stable boss Famin did not deny the speculations about the sale of the team or the pitting of the engine project particularly strongly in Spain.

“We do not comment on rumours. They are just rumours. We have to respect the people working at the Viry factory, and the worst possible thing would be to comment on these rumors”, Famin satisfied to pronounce.

CEO of both Fami and Renault Luca De Meo have denied that Alpine’s F1 team is for sale. Still, the rumors about ditching Renault’s power source project and the sale of Alpine have only intensified.

A significant reason for the rumor mill to grind is the former head of the stable Flavio Briatore returning to a familiar environment as an advisor after 15 years. Marinated in scandals, the master boss of the past years is above all a skilled salesman.

“The only logical reason for Briatore’s return is that he acts as an intermediary for the sale of the team. If the team is separated from the Viry engine plant (which has a wider role within Renault), the F1 team can be left as its own, separate unit,” he says The Race conkar journalist Edd Straw.

“The stable is very easy to sell. If you want, you can throw the Alpine street car brand, which has failed on the market, into the same package. Briatore is extremely talented commercially, and would be able to broker such deals effectively.”

For example Michael Andretti led by Andretti Global has been looking for an entry route to F1 for many years. Andretti was shown the red light in the spring when it had applied for a place in the F1 series as the 11th team.

At that time, the chairman of the international automobile association FIA Mohamed Ben Sulayem recommended to Andretti that the easiest way into the series is to buy an existing team and start it there.