The countdown can begin: Renault Formula 1 engines will contest just 30 more grands prix before being consigned to history.
The third most successful engine manufacturer by wins in F1 history (including its nine triumphs branded as ‘TAG Heuer’ in 2016-18) has decided not to build power units for the championship’s new regulations in 2026.
With this decision, Renault is swimming against the current: Audi will arrive as a full works team in 2026; Honda has performed a U-turn on its 2021 exit and will return with Aston Martin; Ford is also rejoining in an alliance with Red Bull. Meanwhile, Ferrari and Mercedes are happy where they are.
Taken at face value, Renault’s decision is a strange one. A huge opportunity exists for an engine manufacturer to acquire an untouchable performance advantage over their rivals in 2026.
The memory of what Mercedes achieved from 2014 to 2016, when F1 last shook up its power unit regulations, is still fresh. Out of 59 races they won 51, dominating the championships by huge margins.
While Mercedes were crushing the competition, Renault’s works team Red Bull suffered a stunning reversal of fortunes following their four consecutive championship successes. On discovering how uncompetitive their power units were team principal Christian Horner, consultant Helmut Marko and chief technical officer Adrian Newey headed to meet Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn in a vain effort to persuade him to increase spending on their F1 effort.
Newey recalled with dismay that “Ghosn’s reply was ‘well, I have no interest in Formula 1, I’m only in it because my marketing people say I should be’.”
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Red Bull later found success again with Honda, who Newey is eager to work with again when he joins Aston Martin at the beginning of next year to start work on their 2026 project. “I’ll be very pleased to stay working with Honda,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed working with them over the last six years at Red Bull. Great bunch of engineers.”
Alpine is widely rumoured to be seeking the Mercedes engine supply Aston Martin will relinquish at the end of next year. Newey’s latest creation for Red Bull may well be beaten to the championship this year by one of Mercedes’ other customers, McLaren.
But while customer engines may be competitive at the moment, Newey has no doubt that having a works power unit will be essential when F1’s new power unit regulations arrive.
Asked what Aston Martin need to focus on to make the best of the opportunity it faces in 2026, Newey replied: “Any Formula 1 team’s the same. They have three principal departments, which is aerodynamics, mechanical design and vehicle performance, or vehicle dynamics, it comes under those names. So it will be making sure that we try to have synergy between those departments.
“And with Honda on the PU side because there’ll be a huge – probably more than ever – interaction between the PU and the chassis.”
In its press release which hyped up the creation of its ‘Hypertech Alpine’ division and confirmed the scrapping of its F1 engine programme in the final paragraphs, Renault didn’t so much as address the question of how its future cars will be powered. But when the rumours of Viry-Chatillon’s fate first surfaced, Alpine’s team principal at the time claimed taking a customer engine would not put them at too great a disadvantage.
“There is a bit of potential in developing the integration, but it’s quite theoretical at the end of the story, because now all the PU manufacturers are working very closely, very early in the project with the teams, and all the integrations are incredibly optimised,” said Bruno Famin.
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“If we take a Ferrari or Mercedes engine, I’m quite convinced that all the integration, all the packaging will be already very, very good.”
Was he right, or is Newey? It’s unusual to hear any F1 team boss admit, as Famin did, that they are voluntarily sacrificing performance, however little. There isn’t much talk of that at Aston Martin, as Lawrence Stroll pours money into upgrading every facet of their operation.
No wonder so many believe today’s announcement has less to do with Alpine’s long-term potential, and instead indicates Renault’s intention to sell up and complete its withdrawal from F1.
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