Exclusive interview with the CEO of Mecachrome, French designer of F2 and F3 engines and assembler of Alpine engines in F1

Mecachrome is a major player in the world of motorsports, particularly in F1, F2, and F3, but paradoxically, we know too little about you. Is this a deliberate choice on your part? Does your partnership with Renault-Alpine in F1 mean that we hear more about this brand than yours?

Christian Cornille: « There has always been a relationship of trust with Renault for a very long time, as our partnership dates back over 20 years. The tacit and even explicit rule we had with them was that Mecachrome was a partner of Renault, part of the brand’s community. We communicated very little about what we were doing with them. It has long been our association’s policy not to publicize the subject. More broadly, Mecachrome did not communicate extensively about its activities. »

There has been a change of strategy in recent years. Does this matter to you?

C. C.: « For five years, I have wanted to change this slowly. There was no intention to attract too much attention to us, but still to highlight this activity a little more. An activity of which we can be proud, even though it represents a fairly low level of turnover (TO) compared to our entire company. But this is the case for many companies that have a motorsport activity within their group. This activity does not represent a large part of our TO, but I considered it important, both as a source of pride for our employees, and as an employer branding element, to communicate about our motorsport activities. »

Does this involve your partnership with the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships?

C. C.: « Yes, we have decided since this year to sponsor Formula 2 and Formula 3. Branded trucks can be seen in the paddock of these competitions with “Formula 2 [or 3] powered by Mecachrome“. This is the first time we have agreed to sponsor this activity. We started this year to want to promote our brand in this context again. »

Do you have any other similar partnerships?

C. C.: « We are also partners in the prize-giving ceremony organized each year by the FIA. There are now two Mecachrome awards. So, there is a real partnership and a real positioning that has taken place. This has not changed our business model with the F2/F3 promoters, but we have agreed that it was good to regain some visibility. This is what we are striving to do. »

The extent of your presence in motorsport therefore includes firstly Formula 1 with your role in the distribution of Alpine engines.

CC: « We assemble series engines. When I say series, I mean race engines. We also manufacture the main parts of these engines, namely the cylinder head and main casing. In summary, we assemble these engines, test them, and deliver those that will be used in races. Development engines, on the other hand, are made in Viry-Châtillon. They work on the development and improvement, while we focus on making them available for the team. »

Is it Alpine F1 Team who governs this process?

C. C.: « There is this distribution, because it allows the teams from Viry-Châtillon to be close to the Alpine headquarters and to correct elements if necessary. We work very closely with the Alpine teams. Part of it is also located in our workshops. But we are rather dedicated to the production of race engines that have been tested, on which the definition is clear. Our role is to assemble the engines as perfectly as possible to be delivered to the races. This represents the bulk of the partnership with Alpine. But there is also a partnership for the LMDh [Le Mans Daytona h], because this engine is a cooperation Mecachrome-Alpine. We started this collaboration this season with them. »

You assemble the entire engine with the power units, batteries, the two electric and energy recovery motors. Are you going to deliver all of this to them at once?

C. C.: « All electrical auxiliary systems are installed on the single-seaters. This set is directly integrated on the chassis side and this is what we provide to Alpine. Sometimes, we provide them directly on track when there are complex adjustments. We provide a complete set, a complete power unit. »

You are also actors in the World Endurance Championship, the WEC.

C. C.: « We manufacture parts for other manufacturers where we act as a simple parts producer. For example, for Peugeot, we produce important engine components for the Peugeot racing in the WEC. We specialize in engine parts, not chassis parts. »

In F2 and F3 you provide all engines on the grid with a larger share in their development. A significant responsibility.

C. C.: « For these two competitions, we develop the engine ourselves, it is the result of our intellectual property. It’s our design. A design office that defined this engine takes care of it. We operate the entire life cycle of this engine. That means we develop new versions, we manufacture the engines, and we operate them. We are on track with the teams of the promoter of these championships. Our role is also to monitor the operation, support the various teams. When there are accidents or technical problems, we provide new engines. It is our job to support the promoter. The chassis are produced by Dallara and the engines by Mecachrome. We deliver the entire grid in addition to the guarantee of parts delivery. We have a number of spare engines to produce and install in case of problems during race weekends. It is our responsibility to ensure that the race takes place. »

We notice at the edge of the track that the F2 cars make a hell of a noise, sometimes more than the F1 cars, even if the sound is different. Is there a specific explanation for this?

C.C.: « Yes, they make a lot of noise. The design of this engine has a particularity. We owe it to the plateau to have an extremely tight performance range for the fairness of the championship. This is between 590 and 576 horsepower. We must respect this and maintain it throughout the season. Its design was thought out to offer this possibility. Our goal is not to reach the highest performance but to design an engine that guarantees us at the time of testing to be within this extremely strict performance range and to maintain it throughout the long season. For all the Grand Prix races, we have to keep the same level of performance. It is this particular design that influences the noise. »

Regarding the backfires, can we explain their presence due to the engine’s design or is it just for show?

C. C.: « Flameback is due to the design. We could remove it, but it would cost money. We don’t do it because it doesn’t bother the developer. Indeed, as you say, he may not necessarily think it’s a bad idea to have a little noise. We could correct it anyway if there was tolerance regarding it. But as long as everyone is satisfied, we leave the design as it is. »

How is the distribution of your engines to the different teams going?

C. C.: « There is a margin of 14 horses out of nearly 600 in total, knowing that we do not know how the different engines are distributed among the drivers. We provide all the necessary engines to the promoter for the season at the beginning of the year, around the end of February. He then proceeds to a draw to distribute them among each of the teams.

The promoter knows, but not us. He undertakes to carry out this distribution in a completely random manner and this has never been called into question. There is very little discussion on this subject. He gives the teams the number of engines needed for testing and Grand Prix races. Each team has a clearly identified engine.

Does a driver have the same engine throughout the season?

C. C.: « Some drivers go through the whole season with the same engine. When there are accidents, technical issues, or when a driver perceives a drop in engine performance, then we have to change the engine. Out of the 30 engines we deliver each year, on average one or two checks need to be done. Most of the time, we are within the performance range, but if by any chance we are not, we would change the concerned engine. However, this happens very rarely. Sometimes drivers have doubts, but it is quick to do checks on the dynamometer. These checks almost always demonstrate to the driver that the issue is not with the engine. »

Is your presence systematic on race weekends?

C. C.: « Of course, our teams are present for F2 and F3, as they are our engines. We need to be there for the teams, to support them in case of mechanical incidents, to enlighten them when they have questions. We also monitor the engine performance because these are young drivers, and the usage ranges are not always respected. We have many sensors on our engines to check that they are used in the correct operating zones, which is monitored on site. We verify this as part of our partnership with the promoter so that they can warn the teams if they do not respect the specified usage ranges. This means that if there is damage to the engine, it is up to the teams to cover the cost of the repairs. »

The regulations are constantly evolving and you must also adapt each year.

C. C.: « For the past two years, we have been developing synthetic fuels with our partner Aramco. One of the challenges is precisely to maintain stability with a combustion that is not quite the same, which is due to these synthetic fuels. We are working hard to have these synthetic fuels because we believe that we need to develop motorsports with the least possible fossil energy. We will be in this configuration from 2025, as all our fuel will be renewable. This implies a lot of work, as it is a real achievement to be so precise with many adjustments each year. »

About the development you are doing with Aramco. Are they providing you with fuel samples and you have to optimize based on what you have?

CC: « There is an ongoing dialogue with them. They offer us several types of fuel, we test them and check that they deliver the performance expected by the promoter and above all, that they guarantee stability over time. »

Your group does not rely solely on motor sports for its activities. Can you tell us the percentage that it represents of your turnover?

C. C.: « Motor sports represent 20 million euros out of 600 million euros in turnover for the company. It’s a small part for our company, but in motorsports, there are many others that are smaller and don’t weigh as heavily as Mecachrome. But it remains a relative part. The bulk of the turnover is related to aeronautics. Around 50% of our business is dedicated to manufacturing aircraft fuselage parts, such as the chassis and the fuselage. Around 25 to 30% is dedicated to manufacturing aircraft engine parts, especially for jet engines. »

You are also involved in what can be called “premium automobile”.

C. C.: « Yes, there is therefore motor sport but also premium automotive. We manufacture rather series parts this time for Porsche, Ferrari or AMG. We are for example the manufacturers of GT3, GT4, GT3 RS or GT4 RS for Porsche. If motor sport represents 20 million euros in turnover, that of premium cars is around 40 million euros. The rest of the turnover concerns national defense since we have some strategic activities for it.