It’s now official, Renault will stop producing Formula 1 engines in 2026

The group endorsed its decision in a press release. He now wants to transform the Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) site into a “state-of-the-art engineering center”.

It is the end of 50 years of history in the elite of motorsport. Renault will stop manufacturing Formula 1 engines from 2026, the French automobile group announced in a press release on Monday September 30. The Viry-Châtillon site (Essonne), south of Paris, where Renault designs and manufactures its own F1 engines, will be transformed into “center of excellence in engineering and high technology, from the end of 2024”adds the manufacturer Alpine, owned by the group. “Viry’s F1 activities, excluding the development of a new engine, are maintained until the end of the 2025 season”it is also specified.

This announcement is not a surprise, since Renault had informed staff representatives at the end of July of its wish to transform its Viry-Châtillon factory into a center named Hypertech Alpine for the occasion. This decision should affect 360 employees, but also many Alpine subcontractors. All employees concerned should be offered a position in Alpine’s other sectors of activity (preparation of passenger cars, redeployment to other motor sports such as Formula E or the Dakar), management declared at the beginning of September. of the brand.

Alpine, whose chassis will continue to be manufactured in Enstone, England, could sign an agreement for 2026 with Mercedes, which currently equips the Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin teams. No announcement has yet been made in this regard. The cost of purchasing an engine from an external engine manufacturer being limited to 17 million euros, Renault management is counting on savings of around 120 million euros per year. Holding one of the finest records in F1 since it entered the sport in 1977, Renault has won, as an engine manufacturer, twelve constructors’ titles and eleven world crowns among drivers.