Fresh Alpine F1 engine update as power unit staff hold Renault talks’

Alpine’s power unit staff have shared audio of their F1 2026 engine being fired up, as confirmation about the future of the Viry factory remains unclear.

The Renault Group made clear its intentions to switch to a customer power unit for F1 2026, and transform the power unit manufacturing factory at Viry-Chatillon into a manufacturing hub for Renault’s automotive work.

Employees at Viry meet with Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo

As revealed by PlanetF1.com over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, a key objective of the employees at Viry-Chatillon has been to meet with Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo in order to present their case as to why F1 activities should continue at the factory.

Viry has been in the business of constructing Formula 1 engines for over 40 years, with the employees eager to continue that legacy and honour its legacy by continuing to build engines to represent the Renault Group in F1 – particularly as a Renault-owned Formula 1 team remains in the sport.

On Friday, De Meo travelled to Viry to meet with the employees, who say they are still awaiting a verdict on the proposal put to them to begin the transformation process.

PlanetF1.com understands the next crunch date for proposals and counter-arguments to be tabled by both sides is on the 30th of September, with this date serving as a cut-off point for the current negotiations.

A statement was released by the employees of Viry, as a legal entity known as the Comite Social et Economique (CSE), following the meeting with De Meo.

“Following their meeting with Mr. De Meo, the Alpine Racing staff representatives would like to thank Renault Group management for the opportunity to discuss matters with them and for the quality of the discussions during the meeting,” they stated.

“The efforts and concrete proposals put forward by the Viry-Chatillon delegation seem to have resonated with Renault Group management, which is continuing to consider the question of maintaining F1 activities at the French site.

“As things stand, the threat of a halt to F1 engine development in France remains, and the risk of losing unique know-how persists at a time when the industry in France needs to support its talents and consolidate its national collaborative network.

“Staff representatives remain mobilised, determined, and ready to listen to employees. Preparations for future actions are continuing and we will be communicating on this subject in the coming days.”

The meeting comes on the same day the staff released an audio clip of their F1 2026 engine, which is claimed to be exceeding the benchmarks of performance set at this point, being fired up on a test bench.

🚨Ceci est une exclusivité, le moteur 2026 en pleine accélération. #ViryOnTrack pic.twitter.com/lWmS74HulH

— La Voix De Viry (@LaVoixDeViry) September 20, 2024

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Speaking to PlanetF1.com at Monza, a representative for the Viry staff, Clement Gamberoni, said he believes the F1 project can live on, directly alongside the work that the Renault Group has proposed for the facility.

“We are not against anything,” he said.

“We are with our top management if they want to have new projects for us, we are okay to go with those new projects, but we believe that F1 needs to be there to have all those competencies.

“It means also the challenge that F1 brings every day, to be at the top, and then we can work also on other projects and be at the top on this other project, but we think that only other projects at Viry, like we are, it’s not possible. So that’s why we are not fully confident in keeping all the jobs.”

Our request is to have the 2026 F1 engine from Viry running in the Alpine in 2026 – that is the endgame for us.

“There is so little chance, but we want to bring arguments to Luca, to make him maybe see things differently compared to having a non-risky engine, Mercedes or whatever, but to take more risk and to have maybe a better engine, better integrated with a works team with Enstone and Viry working together.”