Alpine sale and Briatore exit theory met with emphatic Renault response

The Alpine Formula 1 team is not for sale and reports claiming that former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was brought back to facilitate a sale are “completely false”.

That’s according to Renault chief executive Luca de Meo, who said the French manufacturer would be “stupid” to sell the Formula 1 team.

Luca de Meo: I won’t sell, I’m not stupid

After weeks of consultation, Renault made the call at the beginning of October to abandon their Formula 1 engine project and announced they would close the doors on it at the end of the 2025 season.

The team will move from a works status outfit to a customer team in 2026 with Mercedes reportedly leading the running to power the Alpine F1 2026 car.

The decision once again raised questions about whether Renault, not for the first time, could sell their Formula 1 team which they run under the Alpine brand.

This was a rumour that also did the rounds earlier this year when Renault brought former team boss Briatore back into the fold, signing him as the team’s executive adviser.

De Meo said reports of selling the team weren’t true in July, and they’re not true today either.

“I read that he [Briatore] was supposed to repackage the project in order to sell the team in the end,” de Meo told L’Equipe. “It’s completely false. I didn’t bring him in to get out of Formula 1.

“I see the advantages for us of being in Formula 1. Flavio is at the heart of this revitalisation of the project. We are reorganising the team and we are focusing on Enstone.

“Every fortnight I get calls from financiers, eccentrics, who want to enter F1. They know that after 2026 it will be much more expensive.

“If I sell them the team for one billion, they could resell it in a year for double or triple that. They know that a team will be worth three or five billion.”

“I won’t sell, I’m not stupid,” he added. “Being in F1 is essential for the Alpine brand. We are in a closed club. It brings credibility for the brand among motor racing fans. We don’t need the money.”

Renault’s plan to scrap the in-house F1 engine department were met with disdain by some of the workforce at the Viry-Chatillon factory, leading to protests and meetings between the staff and the higher-ups.

In the end, though, the “heartbreaking” call was made.

“I admire the commitment and tenacity of the people at Viry-Chatillon,” de Meo said. “They have guts, and that’s good news.

“But in Formula 1, we have become invisible. Two more years like this, and the project was going to collapse completely. We have to shake off the downward slope.”

He went on to say: “I understand the position of the fans, but I cannot decide like them, even if this is a very emotional issue even for me. I am passionate about racing and I had to make a decision against my feelings.

“I am deeply sorry to see so many people disappointed, but this is one of the aspects of my job. I am a manager who runs a listed company. I had to rethink the F1 project and find shortcuts and ways to make it a winner.”

Alpine, who haven’t won a Grand Prix since Esteban Ocon’s 2021 success in Hungary, are down in ninth place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship with a mere 13 points on the board.

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