Hope for Renault's endangered F1 engine program

Sep.21 (GMM) Renault CEO Luca de Meo has given angry and worried Alpine F1 staff members reason to hope.

For weeks, workers at the Viry-Chatillon facility, where Alpine’s works Renault engines are designed and made for Formula 1, have been protesting.

Although the decision is not final, de Meo is openly planning to scrap the F1 engine program to save money and for a performance boost, with a switch to customer Mercedes power on the cards.

The union-backed staff members’ protests, however, did secure them a face-to-face meeting with the Renault CEO on Friday.

In a statement issued later, reproduced in the French sports daily L’Equipe, staff representatives reported that the meeting had been “constructive”.

“The efforts and concrete proposals made by the Viry-Chatillon delegation seem to have resonated with management, which is continuing its reflection on maintaining F1 activities on the French site,” the statement added.

However, the staff also admitted that the “risk” of the F1 engine program being scrapped “persists, at the very moment when industry in France needs to support its talents”.

More protest actions are reportedly now being planned.