Alpine officially announced on Tuesday that its F1 cars will be powered by Mercedes engines starting from 2026.
In a terse statement, Alpine F1 confirmed what had been an open secret for months: from 2026, its single-seaters will be powered by Mercedes engines. “BWT Alpine Formula One Team, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix have concluded agreements on power units and gearboxes starting from the beginning of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship 2026,” the statement reads. “As part of this multi-year agreement, Mercedes-Benz will provide BWT Alpine Formula One Team with powertrain groups for the entire duration of the new regulatory era, from 2026 to at least 2030. In addition to the power unit, BWT Alpine Formula One Team will also receive Mercedes gearboxes from the 2026 season.”
While no team official spoke in the statement to explain the reasons for this choice, which can be understood from a sporting perspective but disregards the rich history of Renault engines in F1, Luca de Meo spoke last month in an exclusive interview about a “heartbreak”. “Keeping such an activity in-house costs between 200 to 250 million euros per year,” the CEO of Renault had stated in our columns, compared to “less than 20 million per year” for the supply of Mercedes engines. The cessation of the F1 engine activity at the Viry-Châtillon factory was officially announced at the end of September.
