While the Alpine F1 employees in Viry-Châtillon have seen the in-house engine project for 2026 disappear, the competition, led by Ferrari, would be interested in poaching them.
The Viry-Châtillon factory will no longer accommodate F1 engines from 2026. A big blow for Alpine F1 employees in the Paris region.
However, this news seems to be a boon for engine competitors, who see this as a golden opportunity to recover vital engine knowledge via Viry engineers.
According to information from Auto Motor und Sport, an often well-informed German media outlet, Ferrari but also the new power unit manufacturers in 2026, Audi and Red Bull, would be interested in recruiting Alpine engine engineers.
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Ferrari, Audi and Red Bull reportedly interested
Thus, Scuderia Ferrari has already conducted a few dozen job interviews with members of the Alpine engine factory.
Luca de Meo had already reported the Italian team’s interest in its engine staff and had even announced that it would not impose gardening leave on them.
“Fred Vasseur, the boss of the Ferrari team, called us to ask if he could get people out of our house and save them from a ‘garden leave’ [congé de relâche]a purgatory, before going to work at home”declared de Meo in an interview with L’Équipe. “Okay. That’s life. We are not going [pas] imprison our guys.”
Ferrari thus wishes to strengthen itself with members of Viry-Châtillon, but it could also be a strategic maneuver by the team based in Maranello.
Indeed, in addition to welcoming new knowledge, the recruitment of engine engineers at Alpine F1 would also avoid strengthening competition.
Audi and Red Bull, two entities which are developing their first power unit with a view to 2026, are also said to have shown interest in the idea of bringing in reinforcements from Viry with such knowledge.
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