What Luca de Meo’s departure means for the Alpine F1 team

When Luca de Meo took the helm of Renault in the summer of 2020, the group had just recorded a loss of 7.3 billion euros and was on the brink of collapse, in a global pandemic context paralyzing the economy.

On the path to a spectacular turnaround, with an operating profit of 4.26 billion euros in the latest annual results, Luca De Meo launched what he called the « Renaulution », by introducing new attractive models and reviving the then-ailing Alpine brand.

What’s next for the brand?

What distinguished Luca de Meo from his predecessors at Renault was his ability to combine a passion for the product with solid financial discipline.

Under the leadership of former CEO Carlos Ghosn, the priority was on budget cuts, to the detriment of the range’s attractiveness. The flamboyant case of Ghosn’s arrest in Japan, followed by his escape in a musical instrument case, plunged Renault into an internal crisis, managed as best as they could by interim CEOs Thierry Bolloré and Clotilde Delbos.

Formerly of FIAT and the Volkswagen group, Luca De Meo is credited with the revival of the FIAT 500. Upon his arrival at Renault, one of his first actions was to revive an abandoned project: reinvent the legendary R5 as an electric car, with accelerated production.

A car enthusiast

A great enthusiast of sports brands, originally behind Abarth and Cupra, it was logical that he would become the standard-bearer for Alpine, which had no plans after the A110. While the Renault range has significantly increased in attractiveness, the management of the Alpine F1 team, renamed at his initiative, has proved to be much more chaotic.

Starting in 2021, Luca De Meo dismissed Cyril Abiteboul, the long-standing head of the team. Officially, Davide Brivio was supposed to take over on the track side, but Marcin Budkowski had just arrived as executive technical director, further complicating the chain of command. Added to this was Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine Cars and another appointee of Luca De Meo, without real experience in the automotive sector. He became particularly notable for retrieving the constructor’s trophy in Hungary 2021 and for alienating Alain Prost, consultant and four-time world champion, who eventually slammed the door.

Two years later, Alain Prost was still fuming, describing Rossi in L’Équipe as the perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger effect (overestimation of one’s abilities). Brivio, meanwhile, discreetly slipped away into the world of motorcycling.

Repetitive changes

Since then, appointments and dismissals have followed one another. The arrival in 2023 of Flavio Briatore as an executive advisor was perceived as De Meo’s last resort to save Alpine F1. Flavio Briatore had carte blanche to turn the team around, even if it meant breaking everything or selling it. In this logic, Renault Sport in Viry-Châtillon, the birthplace of many world champion engines, was sacrificed: Alpine will buy Mercedes engines starting in 2026.

Poorly communicated, this decision caused a shockwave. A former employee criticized Luca De Meo on LinkedIn, accusing him of cowardice for not announcing the news himself. He stood by his choice: « There is no financial benefit in producing engines and chassis. McLaren or Aston Martin receive the full FIA bonus by using Mercedes engines. At Renault, we pay an additional 250 million euros. »

« If it were your money, what would you do? I’m running a publicly traded company; I have to make rational decisions », he says.

According to him, this decision was vital and the criticism would disappear on the day Alpine returned to the podiums. However, that day still seems quite distant.

For the automotive industry, Luca De Meo’s departure is seen as a mix between personal opportunity (Kering is seeking renewal after Gucci’s sales decline) and a warning signal. A proponent of alliances with China (notably with Geely), Luca De Meo recently warned against the massive influx of cheap Chinese vehicles. He even came to support the idea of European taxes on these imports after initially rejecting them.

And the Alpine F1 project?

In any case, his departure further fuels the uncertainties surrounding the Alpine F1 project. In F1, stability comes from vision and execution, said Flavio Briatore in Montreal. We have a plan. Luca supported this plan. His departure will not stop it.

Flavio Briatore, already controversial for his role in the 2008 Singapore scandal, is only a consultant. His contract would even include commissions on commercial partnerships, an arrangement strongly criticized in the French press.

Renault assures that a succession plan is already in place. Rumors mention Denis Le Vot (Dacia) or Maxime Picat (Stellantis). A close associate of Luca De Meo would reassure Alpine; an external profile would, on the contrary, herald a new cycle of uncertainties for Enstone.