Staff lash out at axed Renault F1 engine program

Staff at Renault’s Formula 1 engine factory in Viry-Chatillon have lashed out over plans to stop producing works power units for the Alpine team.

Now advised by Flavio Briatore, Renault CEO Luca de Meo has decided to repurpose the Viry facility and its 300 employees and switch to customer Mercedes engines for 2026 and beyond.

But in a statement to select media organisations, staff at Viry insist the 2026 F1 engine was "well born and already approaching the expected objective for the first race of 2026".

"The men and women of Viry-Chatillon cannot approve of Renault’s final decision to stop the development program for F1 engines," the communique continues.

De Meo was specifically named in the statement, accused of "betraying" Renault’s "heritage and DNA by implanting a Mercedes heart in our Alpine".

Renault officials plan to re-assign all staff at Viry to focus instead on future-looking road car technology. But the staff say: "The skills of the staff in Viry are not geared towards these areas.

"The announcement of the end of the development and production of French power units for Formula 1 is nonsense. We cannot accept that Alpine and the Renault Group will damage their image, which is why we strongly urge Mr de Meo and his board to reverse this decision," the statement concludes.