ANALYSIS: Why Alpine have favoured Mercedes’ power units over their own engines for 2026

Alpine have taken the next step in their rebuild by confirming they will use Mercedes power units and the Silver Arrows’ gearboxes from 2026.

Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo triggered an overhaul last year in a bid to make his Alpine F1 team more competitive. That process has seen almost all the squad’s senior personnel depart.

READ MORE: Alpine to use Mercedes power units and gearboxes from 2026

In their place is a new-look leadership team that features the returning Flavio Briatore as Executive Advisor, Hitech co-founder Oli Oakes as Team Principal and David Sanchez (formerly of Ferrari and McLaren) as Executive Technical Director.

De Meo also ordered a review into the F1 operation, which included a thorough assessment of their engine division based in Viry, France, and ultimately decided to shut the power unit programme – which first started building F1 engines in 1976 – down.

Alpine’s power unit has been the least competitive on the grid for several years. At some circuits, their deficit has cost them several tenths of a second, which is a chasm in modern day F1 as the field is so tightly-packed.