Renault offered eye watering sum to sell F1 team – Renault have dabbled with being a works team over their time in Formula One, but most of their success has been as an engine supplier to customer teams. The pinnacle of success for the French owned outfit was with Fernando Alonso, then a rising star in the sport, as they won both F1 championships in 2005/6.
Since then they sold the team to Geni Capital in 2010, only to buy it back again ready for the 2016 season. Yet their results in the since becoming a full works outfit again have been particularly poor. They have just one win with Esteban Ocon in Hungary 2021 and six podiums, two of which were at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which in anybodies books is a shocking return for an F1 works based outfit.
In 2022 with the planned new power units, already a year late, the FIA decided to freeze the development of the F1 power units in an effort to save cost for the customers. The teams were then allowed one season where they could tinker with the composites they used, to improve any reliability issues.
Renault ditch costly F1 power programme
Renault came out of the this transition with a power unit some 30BHP down on the rest of the field. “In terms of hybrid efficiency and maximum combustion power, we are behind our direct rivals,” Alpine’s technical director, David Sanchez, told Auto Motor und Sport this year.
Under the guise of Alpha Tauri and the Alpine, the team has seen significant interference from the parent company in recent years, chewing through team bosses and other senior personnel like a soft buttered croissant. In an attempt to bring stability and a return to the front, Renault appointed its previous boss from the Alonso glory years, the flamboyant Flavio Briatore.
His appointment as ‘executive advisor’ is all but in name the role of team principal and soon after he was confirmed, the extra-ordinary decision was taken to close the Viry-Chatilon power unit division, which has failed to deliver a competitive unit since the V6 turbo hybrids were introduced way back in 2014. Yet with 12 constructors’ titles to their name, across six decades of F1 competition the Renault division in Viry is second only to the mighty Ferrari.
This decision was seen as evidence that Renault had finally come to the end of their tether with their F1 failed efforts of the past twenty years and with Mercedes booked in to supply powertrains from 2026 onwards, it was assumed the F1 team was up for sale.
Renault sold 24% of Alpine F1
Yet when Mario Andretti application to join the sport was initially rejected he was told to “go and buy another F1 team” by the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The racing legend’s son Michael later confirmed: “We’ve been to every single team. They keep saying ‘well, buy a team’, and nobody wants to sell. You go there, and they’re not even interested in talking. I’ve been there, done that, and not happy.”
In this light the cancelation of the Renault F1 powertrains has been reasoned to be based upon the fact Renault were not happy with the new 2026 specifications for power units, which had been driven heavily by Audi and Mercedes. Yet the saving after having paid Mercedes for their new powertrains is reported to be in the region of $100m.
With talk of F1 returning in the next three to four years to simpler, lighter and engines which cost less than half that the current eye watering amount, it cold be Renault are just taking a break as a manufacturer and will return when the hybrid era has been finally put to bed.
To raise cash for investment in the Enstone HQ, Renault sold around a quarter of its stake in Alpine to a variety of celebrity investors towards the end of the 2023 season. The reported $200m for 24% of the company, meant the value of Alpine stood around $900m.
Sky Blacklisted: Reporters muzzled
Huge $$$ offer made to buy Alpine
Now reports are emerging that Renault have ‘recently’ been made an offer for their F1 racing team, the sum suggested is in the region of $1.2bn from an unnamed party. This was apparently rejected without any real consideration, suggesting the appetite for a sale is non-existent at Renault HQ.
Further uncertainty surrounded the team with the recent announcement that the Renault board member in charge of the F1 project, Luca de Meo, had been relieved of his duties. But his successor Francois Provost has quickly moved to quell any rumours, stating th week of his appointment that, “Formula 1 is part of our core strategy for Alpine, and this I do not intend to change.”
“The unique priority for the Formula 1 team is performance, improved performance this year and, of course, moreover, to succeed in 2026 with the new car. This is a unique priority given to Formula 1,” he clarified.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly has alluded to the fact that the 2025 season has been something of a compromise. With the underpowered Renault engine and suspect chassis design, the team has switched its resources now to their 2026 challenger.
Gasly states 2025 ‘a compromise’
“We know where we’re heading,” said the French driver. “We know ’25 is a compromise we decided to take at the start of the year to focus on ’26. Hopefully, it’s going to pay dividends next year.” Gasly then welcomed the new leadership, commending Provost for his vision.
“It’s really clear. He’s been a very long time working in Renault. He knows the DNA of the group, of the team,” said Gasly to assembled media in Hungary. “He’s been part of it for all these years when Renault has been part of Formula 1. He’s fully committed to the sport, to the Formula 1 team.”
No details of the potential buyer are known at present but whispers of a Chinese F1 entrant have grown in recent times and persist even now in the paddock. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem made the bold claim that the teams and FOM would support another new entry to the sport.
Two F1 teams talking to George Russell
Chinese backers looking for F1 team
“We have an 11th team. I believe we should look into the performance of the 11th team, and then, if there is a Chinese [bid], and I will speak on behalf of them now in front of you, they [FOM] will agree to that, because it is about sustaining the business,” he said to reporters in Silverstone this year.
“If there is a team from China, let’s say, and FOM approved it, and I am 100 per cent they will approve it, wouldn’t it make more money with China coming in? I believe, yes,” Ben Sulayem asserted. “Do we have to fill up [the grid] with a 12th team for the sake of filling up [the grid] with a 12th team? No. It will be the right team.”
Of course building an F1 team from scratch is no easy task. Haas F1 were the last to do this for the 2016 season, but in almost a decade and 204 races, they have never been front runners and failed to win or even claim a podium.
It could be the Chinese have decided the best way into the sport is to buy an F1 team, which is why Renault/Alpine is now valued at $1.2bn.
Horner eyes up Alpine
For Horner, this makes the situation particularly tantalising. If Renault does decide to cash out, either partially or completely, he could step in with a consortium of aforemetioned backers, instantly planting himself back in the paddock with a controlling voice.
And if Alpine remains elusive, there are whispers he might turn his attention to other mid-grid operations, especially those struggling for investment and technical partnerships. Horner’s network within the sport is vast, spanning former drivers, engineers, and commercial allies across the globe, and he has never been shy about leveraging it when an opportunity arises. In the politically charged marketplace of F1 team ownership, that makes him a dangerous bidder indeed.
We’re trying to grow a new online F1 community for fans who think deeper and argue louder. Come join us in the TJ13 Jury Room on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/708095665600791 and be part of the conversation that the paddock can’t ignore.
MORE F1 NEWS – Wolff: Ferrari avoid “truly stupid” mistake for 2026
Come the last six rounds of 2024, Ferrari had the fastest Formula One car in the field. Since the Singapore Grand Prix and over the two sets of triple header weekends, the Scuderia closed a 79 point gap to McLaren to just 14 as the chequered flag fell in the Abu Dhabi desert.
Yet the team decided to build a completely new car design, with team boss Fred Vasseur confirming “99% of the parts are new.” Meanwhile McLaren continued with the design philosophy of their MCL38, which brought them their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
With no podiums after the first four rounds of the year, it became quickly evident something was fundamentally wrong with the SF-25. The car looks at its quickest when setup with a low ride height, but as newbie Lewis Hamilton found much to his disgust in China, this approach would lead to his disqualification for excessive plank wear…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
