Departing Alpine boss issues scathing Renault criticism with 10-year flaw remark

Renault could scrap their engine project

As Alpine contemplate scrapping the Renault F1 power unit project to become a customer team, departing team boss Bruno Famin says it goes all the way back to 2014 when Renault “really missed the point” with the new engines.

Having powered the Red Bull team to four successive championship doubles from 2010 to 2013, Renault fell short of the mark when Formula 1 introduced the 1.6-litre hybrid turbocharged V6 power units.

Renault ‘really missed the point’ with the 2014 power unit

Red Bull, one of three teams powered by Renault at the time, were destroyed by Mercedes who won 16 of that year’s 19 Grands Prix to claim the championship and the 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings.

Red Bull blamed Renault and after five years of watching Mercedes dominate they announced they’d be switching to Honda power in 2019.

The Milton Keynes squad has gone onto win three Drivers’ titles and two Constructors’ Championships with Honda, while Renault rebranded their F1 team Alpine and are now considering abandoning their engine project and becoming a customer in 2026.

Famin, who is leaving his post as Alpine team boss to be replaced by Oliver Oakes, believes the Renault decision finds its roots in 2014’s troubles.

“I think the big announcement was on Tuesday, last Tuesday, where we had to make the announcement to the staff in Viry that there was a project to switch to a different power unit from 2026. And that was really a shock,” he said on the Beyond The Grid podcast.

“Right now the current engine is a bit down by 15 kilowatt. I think it’s what FIA figures are saying.

“Renault really missed the point in 2014 when the current regulation was born with the two hybrid systems, Renault totally missed. But now we are 10 to 15 kilowatt down, the power unit is let’s say in average two-tenths of lap time.”

Key information on the 2024 F1 championship

The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Belgian Grand Prix

F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held?

Performances v economical aspect

However, being down on power isn’t the only issue with Famin going on to speak about the exorbitant cost of creating a Formula 1 power unit. And it is one that is not offset by selling it to rival teams.

“But we cannot hide behind the power unit. There are different ways of looking at the power unit situation. You have the performance of course but you have also the economical aspect of the thing. It’s a fact that the business model, to call it like that, is a bit weird.

“We know with the Concorde Agreement the system of the prize fund, which is benefiting to the teams only. And on the other hand, the FIA has the financial regulation on the sporting regulation, which makes mandatory to the PU manufacturer to sell at the cap price per unit to the two teams who would like to have it.

“When you see the R&D costs in developing a PU compared to buying your PU there is a huge difference. And that huge difference is not compensated by any price. Then we are not talking about performance, we are talking about a huge difference in money.”

He added: “There is no secret in the difference because we know it’s official and it’s public that the cost cap, the amount of money which is allowed to PU manufacturer and the PU supply price and the price that the PU manufacturer has to sell the PU is also public. It’s something like 120 million euros.”

Although Alpine are said to be in talks with Mercedes about a power supply deal, Famin revealed Renault’s engine team in Viry had been making strides forward with the 2026 power unit.

“It has nothing to do with being an engine guy or not,” he said. “It has to do with human beings, people who are working hard on a project, engine, gearbox or anything else, fully dedicated for years to their passion, lucky enough to walk in their passion, but to who we are saying that it won’t last anymore.

“And of course, it is very difficult, especially while the 2026 project was delivering quite well. A lot of investment from the people and the first result we had was good. We had chosen to take some very, let’s say aggressive technical option and the first result was saying that it was right to do that.”

Follow PlanetF1.com’s WhatsApp channel for all the F1 breaking news!