The latest venture by Renault to own a full works Formula One team has failed miserably. Alpine are are currently eight in the constructors’ title race, although they are under threat from a resurgent Williams and Alex Albon in particular. This weekend in Monza both drivers for the French squad made it through to the second qualifying session but the ill fated A524 car for this year once again failed to deliver for its drivers.

Whilst Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are closely matched in terms of performance, Alpine could only manage start positions of P14 and P15 respectively with just 0.028 seconds separating the pair. For the second race weekend in succession Williams’ Alexander Albon made it to the top ten shootout while the Alpine pair again struggled to make it out of the first qualifying session.

Having ditched the hapless Logan Sargeant, Williams have promoted their academy driver Franco Colapinto, yet the young Argentinian failed to impress in Monza qualifying ahead of just the Sauber drivers who have yet to score a point this season.

 

 

 

Williams’ recruit not up to the mark

Colapinto’s record in international single seater racing is hardly something to write home about. His best season saw him come home 4th in the 2022 FIA F3 campaign and he currently sits fourth in F2 but has racked top just over half the points of Red Bull’s championship leader Isaac Hadjar.

Of course Colapinto is not driving a Ferrari like Oliver Bearman did in Qatar this year which has seen the British driver’s one off appearance in the middle east even now place him in fifteenth in the drivers’ title race, with the likes of Magnussen, Ocon, Albon, the Sauber pair and Logan Sargent all behind him in the standings.

Yet the newly promoted Argentinian F2 driver was over half a second slower than his team mate, which places him alongside the sacked Sargeant in terms of lap time differential to Albon.

Renault with their Alpine F1 project have become the laughing stock of the paddock as their five year plan to win races and compete for titles has fallen into disarray. Following the appointment of former team boss Flavio Briatore it has become apparent that Renault will cease their F1 power unit production at Viry-Chatillon which is a huge shock given the French manufacturers success in F1. Renault claimed two constructors’ and driver titles as a works team in 2005/6 yet their success as sole an engine supplier dwarfs this by comparison.

FIA ‘exceptions’ for Colapinto F1 super license

 

 

 

The fourth best team in F1 history – bails

As a team owner, Renault has won two constructors’ and drivers’ championships, while as an engine manufacturer it has 12 constructors’ and 11 drivers’ championships. It has collected over 160 wins as engine supplier, ranking it fourth in Formula One history.

Yet all this is to go as the Alpine team are aiming to do a deal with Mercedes to become a customer power unit supplied team. Of course the cost to the French auto manufacturer us currently around $120m to bold their own V6 turbo hybrid and this will fall to around $20m when they buy their power from Mercedes.

Renault failed miserably at their attempt to build a competitive new V6 turbo hybrid in 2014 and since have been near the back of the field despite their four year dominance of the sport with Red Bull between 2010-2013.

All the signs point to Renault attempting to recover some capital from their F1 programme and the Alpine team is reportedly up for sale, though Renault deny this – at least for now. The F1 Alpine team is currently owned 76% by Renault following a divestment in shares last year to a bunch of celebrity USA based investors (who clearly had little idea what they were doing).

Red Bull ‘civil war’ re-ignites

 

 

 

Alpine – way over valued

The finances of F1 have improved significantly since Liberty Media took over the shit show that was run by Bernie Ecclestone and CVC Capital partners. Yet the current valuations of the sport being worth $20bn are ludicrous unless of course a middle eastern sovereign wealth fund with more money than sense decides it wants Saudi Arabia to be the global motorsports capital of the world.

Alpine too is valued at a ridiculously price with the ‘also rans’ valued recently as close to $1bn dollars. Nico Rosberg claimed in Monza this weekend that he’d been offered the team for this kind of valuation yet the Alpine published accounts do not support this kind of price.

The team’s latest published numbers state they made a pre-tax profit of close to $40m in 2022. This was a $12m increase on the previous year, yet even for the most exiting tech IPO’s the value of $1bn is a stretch of the imagination.

With the Andretti organisation being frozen out of an eleventh spot on there grid for now, Renault are clearly hoping the exclusivity of their position as just one of ten teams in F1 will bump the price cos the team substantially and further they state again the team is not for sale.

F1 drivers ‘unhappy’ with Monza track changes

 

 

 

Rosberg claims Alpine for sale

They publicly now dispute Rosberg’s claims stating:  “This statement is incorrect and we would like to clarify that the team is not selling more shares, beyond the 24 percent stake already sold to the Investor Group (Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, and Maximum Effort Investments) acquired in June 2023.”

“The Investor Group includes a number of international athletes and sports investors, and the Investor Group are constantly looking out for potential new investors as part of their existing 24 percent stake in the team. We reiterate what top management have said previously, the team is categorically not for sale.”

What is most bizarre about this situation is 90% of Renault’s success in F1 is solely as an F1 power unit supplier. Yet the main board of the French manufacturer appears to understand little of this and is currently on an exit path from Formula One.

Also ironic is the FIA’s push to introduce “Frankenstein’s monster” cars and power units for F1 in 2026, which was intended to attract power unit suppliers will leave the sport with a net gain of zero as Audi join and Renault bail out.

Marko SLAMS Brundle’s Red Bull assessment

 

 

 

Renault F1 historic feats

Renault have made another failed attempt at re-structuring their  F1 team for success. Incomeing F2 team boss Oliver Oakes has been recruited to shore up the collapsed morale within the team. Yet his first decision was to appoint Jack Doohan as a full time driver next year and as his junior formula results suggest he is no better than Zhou Guangu, Yuki Tsunoda, Nicholas Laitifi or Logan Sargeant himself.

Doohan is the first appointment as a rookie by the team since Romain Grosjean was given his big break back in 2009, fooling the  crash gate saga the previous year in Singapore.

Renault bailing out of their most successful contribution to F1 as solely an engine supplier says it all. The team will become an independent racing entity and be prepped for sale. Renault have truly given up on F1 and like Lotus who once were top of the pile, the French team will wither away until little is left of the legacy of this once great F1 competitor.

Verstappen reacts to McLaren dominance

 

 

 

Hamilton “furious” in Monza

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza, known as the ‘Temple of Speed’, has always been a spectacle of history, passion and intense racing. This year’s weekend was no exception, with drama on and off the track. Lando Norris, continuing his impressive form, secured a remarkable pole position, leading a McLaren front row lockout alongside team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Huge disappointment for a “furious” Lewis Hamilton, who had set a strong pace throughout the weekend, was visibly frustrated after qualifying sixth. The result was particularly disappointing given his dominance in practice and Q2, where he set the fastest time. Many had expected Hamilton to challenge for pole at Monza, a track where his experience often shines… READ MORE.