Alpine is set to align with Mercedes in 2026 – but could the Viry PU become a Cadillac?
On Friday Alpine’s outgoing Formula 1 team principal Bruno Famin confirmed that the Enstone outfit is planning to use a customer power unit in 2026, thus abandoning the in-house project that has been underway at Renault’s Viry-Chatillon base for the past couple of years.
He also stressed that the customer plan is pending agreement with the unions and French authorities, and a guarantee that the Viry employees will still have a job.
Famin talked in somewhat vague terms about the facility’s resources and the 250-300 people who work on F1 being reallocated to Alpine’s road car programme.
However there is a far more straightforward solution to the Viry problem, and one which will potentially actually earn the Renault Group a lot of money – sell the 2026 project to General Motors and create a Cadillac PU that could put Andretti on the grid.
As is well known Andretti’s original strategy was to be a Renault customer in 2026-’27, and then bring its own US-built Cadillac PU onstream in 2028.
Those plans remain in limbo given that F1 steadfastly refuses to approve Andretti’s entry.
In the rejection letter it sent on January 31 F1 specifically cited the customer engine plan as one of the key reasons, seemingly ignoring the fact that McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams, Haas and Sauber are all currently customer teams.
However the last paragraph appeared to leave the door open: “We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house.
“In this case there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the applicant would bring to the championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier.”
This was written on the basis that, as per the plans submitted by Andretti, the Cadillac PU would not be ready until 2028. However, it was perhaps not as generous a concession as it might appear.
The entry process that Andretti took part in and which was approved on the FIA side was for 2025, 2026 or 2027. In other words an entry for 2028 would require a whole new process, and there’s no guarantee that Andretti would get past the FIA stage. It would also require the team to spend ‘25, ‘26 and ‘27 on the sidelines, spending a huge amount on salaries with no reward.
But what if Andretti could turn up with a Cadillac PU in 2026, or even 2027 if it takes more time to put the pieces together – in other words within the currently approved FIA entry window?
Renault has a PU project that has been full steam ahead for a couple of years and which is about to be canned, along with all the hybrid V6 knowledge gained since 2014. The IP of the 2026 project will be worth absolutely nothing – all that investment and no return.
Alpine may not want to use the Viry PU, but in theory there’s no reason why someone else can’t take over the project.
Renault could retain ownership of the Viry facility and simply provide IP and services to GM, in so doing creating a useful income stream that keeps the place running and still able to do other Alpine racing and road car work.
GM using Viry to create an F1 PU is little different to Ford doing it via Red Bull Powertrains, but to add some legitimacy it could bolster the French staff with a few US engineers, or perhaps undertake specific projects – as it is doing with the Andretti chassis – at its American facility. All of which would of course have to be done within the restrictions of the new PU financial regulations.
If it happened Cadillac could have a PU two years earlier than planned, the Viry operation could continue with barely a blip, and the Renault shareholders would surely welcome the funding that will be pumped in. And F1 will still have six PU manufacturers in 2026.
It all makes so much sense in theory. However, the reality is that the political complications will be hard to overcome. Renault boss Luca de Meo would have to be keen to make it happen, and any deal would have to be discussed at CEO level with his GM/Cadillac counterparts.
And given that Flavio Briatore is his advisor, the former Benetton boss would also have to have good reasons to support a GM deal.
It’s widely believed that Briatore’s longer term goal on De Meo’s behalf is to increase the value of the Enstone team in preparation for an eventual sale. Many observers believe that taking a Mercedes PU in 2026 is seen as a simple shortcut to better results, which will in turn boost the value of the team.
Thus helping Andretti to get on the grid, diluting the prize fund and potentially reducing the value of all 10 current teams, would not be in De Meo’s interests. In addition he is close to F1 boss Stefano Domenicali, who strongly opposes the Andretti entry, and it makes little sense to rock the boat. Indeed sources suggest that De Meo is not been keen to help Andretti in any way.
Has a Cadillac/Viry deal already been discussed by GM and Renault? Given that it has been several weeks since the first stories of the Alpine customer PU plan emerged, potentially leaving Andretti without an engine for 2026 and ’27, it would be naïve to think that there hasn’t already been a conversation, and Halfway house scenarios such a sale of specific IP to fast track a full US Cadillac project, for example battery technology, may also be on the table. How far any such talks have got is another story.
The clock is already ticking in terms of an Andretti entry in 2026, and also in terms of key Viry staff sticking around rather than jumping ship to Audi or Red Bull, the obvious destinations.
The question now is what can GM and Andretti do to convince De Meo and Renault to play ball?
Adam Cooper F1 