Famin continued: “The project which has been presented to the staff representative in Viry and to different governance bodies, is talking about ‘26 onwards on the power unit, clearly. And of course, we are talking to different PU manufacturers.
“For the time being, of course, nothing is done because, again, it’s a project. We have to follow, you know, in France, unions, we have a social process, very strict to follow. And we have to follow it very strictly. And we cannot take any decision until [we have] reached the end of that process. For that, I mean, we are talking to some PU manufacturers, but we cannot sign anything until this process is over.”
A switch to Mercedes power would be a coup for Alpine, given the Silver Arrows have been the class-leader during the hybrid era and are expected to react well to regulation changes to be introduced in 2026.
READ MORE: FIA Team principals press conference – Belgium
Whereas once it was considered necessary to have a works engine supply to genuinely fight for the world championship, Mercedes-powered McLaren are currently proving otherwise.
Should a deal go through, Alpine’s F1 mindset can be focused on the chassis side and integration project with Mercedes rather than pumping resource into their own engine project that has yielded the least competitive power unit for several years now.
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