Employees of Viry-Châtillon were able to meet Luca De Meo: No clear progress on the F1 engine

Alpine-Renault or Alpine-Mercedes in 2026? This is the question currently being asked in the offices of the Renault group. If Alpine has the image of a separate manufacturer, it must be acknowledged that the Renault engine has been struggling in F1 in recent years.

If some managers of Alpine F1 and notably the CEO of the Renault group, Luca De Meo, show themselves in favor of performance and efficiency, by buying Mercedes engines for future seasons, a horde of defenders of Renault engines are facing them, with the firm intention of showing that Renault knows how to make engines well.

This Friday at 4 p.m., a meeting took place in Viry-Châtillon between the Works Council, the management of the Viry-Châtillon factory, and the CEO of the Renault group, Luca De Meo. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the engine that will power the F1 team in the upcoming seasons. Indeed, having its own engine factory costs Renault around 125 million Euros per year, while buying an engine from a supplier like Mercedes would cost around 20 million Euros.

Gathered around the keyword #ViryOnTrack, the employees of Viry-Châtillon wanted to remind that the difficulties experienced by the F1 team did not come only from the engine, but above all that the performances of the 2026 engine, which undergoes several regulatory changes, will be much better than the current engine.

At the end of the meeting, the CSE, Social and Economic Committee of the Alpine engine subsidiary, communicated the following points: « employees are still waiting for a position from the Renault Group management, who will consider the new elements » made available during the meeting.

The statement specifies: « Following the meeting with Mr. De Meo, the representatives of Alpine Racing’s personnel would like to thank Renault Group’s management for the opportunity to exchange with senior management and the quality of the discussions during this meeting.

However, the future of the French engine in F1 is not yet assured. No decision has been made and employees do not seem more reassured. « The efforts and concrete proposals brought by the delegation from Viry-Châtillon seem to have resonated with the management of Renault Group, which is continuing to reflect on maintaining F1 activities at the French site. »

« As it stands, the threat of stopping F1 engine developments in France is still relevant, the risk of losing unique expertise persists at a time when the industry in France needs to support its talents and strengthen its national collaborative network.

« The staff representatives remain mobilized, determined, and attentive to the employees. The preparation of future actions continues, and we will communicate on this subject in the coming days. » ends the statement.