Alpine director defends himself over the switch to a Mercedes engine

A choice which did not fail to provoke a reaction. In recent weeks, Alpine has formalized a decision that has been talked about for months. The French team has decided to abandon its Renault engine in 2026 to switch to Mercedes. A choice which will throw out many people at the Viry-Châtillon site and which is controversial. However, in the Beyond The Grid podcast, Oliver Oakes justified this decision, notably for economic reasons: “The subject of Viry is very 'personal' for the team and for many people, because it is a very beautiful story of a factory team. But times also change; we see this in all kinds of sports teams, you can't rest on your laurels. And I think we have to be honest; the analysis was done before I started, and at board level, that the decision to become a client team was in the best interest of the team. »

A “difficult to make” decision

For the director of Alpine, the switch to a Mercedes engine should allow them to revise their ambitions upwards: “I know it was a difficult decision to make. I know there's a lot of emotion, because we're proud to be a factory team and we have another year of working together next year, but I think it was also an important statement of intent about the direction we want take, explained the Briton. We we are not here to make up the numbers. We want to move forward. I just want the best engine in the back of the car. At the end of the day, for me, we're here to race. I want to be at the front of the grid. I don't want to be left behind. And cruelly, the choice we made was to put the best engine in the back of the car and help the team continue to move up the hierarchy. » For Oakes, Mercedes has always been able to adapt to changes in regulations, which should show some optimism for 2026. Regardless, Alpine will try to honor its factory engine in the coming months before this radical change.

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