Alpine Racing Director Dave Greenwood has downplayed the potential obstacles it will face in its transition from OEM to Mercedes customer from this year’s Formula 1 season.
The Enstone-based squad has given up its status as an original engine manufacturer – via Renault – with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore spearheading the option of looking elsewhere for its power.
2015 aside – when the then-iteration of the team under the Lotus name also used Mercedes engines – Renault [rebadged derivatives included] had powered all cars produced in Enstone since 1995.
2025 was a miserable year for the team, with a bottom-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship, scoring just 22 points – all of which coming from Pierre Gasly – thus ending the longstanding relationship on a sour note.
The switch to Mercedes power on a long-term basis is likely to see the team’s budget slashed by around $100 million, enabling further resources to be ploughed into other areas.
And the high expectation of the German marque’s power unit is providing added excitement to Alpine hopes for a big turnaround in fortunes.
Greenwood is confident that whatever downsides faced by the change will not be particularly great, as two powerhouses come together in alliance.
“At the end of the day, probably the difference is more the actual architecture of the engine that’s changing,” he said.
“In terms of working with the people, it’s a fairly normal thing for us. In terms of the power unit people, [they] want to do the same things and are involved in the same sort of things between any company.
“Some different faces but other than that, I think it’s fairly easy, honestly.”
READ MORE – Franco Colapinto to be offered ‘all the support’ of Alpine in first full F1 season
Discussion about this post