Oliver Oakes has defended Alpine's choice to abandon the factory Renault powertrain in 2026 and switch to a customer Mercedes power unit, calling the move a “pragmatic”.
The three-week break between the last two triple rounds of the 2024 F1 season allowed Alpine to formalize information that did not surprise many people: the signing, for 2026, of an engine supply agreement with the star builder. A logical outcome of the saga of the abandonment of its 2026 engine by Renault, since the links with Mercedes were already largely established when the first rumors appeared.
The fact remains that the choice to switch to a Mercedes engine, even if it responds to economic logic initially and sporting logic secondly, has caused a lot of debate, particularly among French fans, some of whom were particularly disappointed. that the last real link of the team with French territory is severed in such a context.
Speaking to F1's Beyond The Grid podcast, Enstone team principal Oliver Oakes said emotions were running high at the time of ending with an in-house engine by 2026. However, he judges that it was in the best interest for the structure to take the path of a customer engine.
“Some of the decisions that were made this year were not easy to make”declares the Briton. “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 change too; you see that 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.”
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“I know it was a difficult decision to make. I know there is a lot of emotion, because we are proud to be a factory team and we still have another year of working together in the year next year, but I think it was also an important statement of intent about where we want to go.”
“We're 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 end up at the back. And cruelly, the choice we made was to put the best engine at the back of the car and help the car. team to continue to move up the hierarchy.”
Despite everything, it is now very early to claim that Mercedes will have the best power unit on the grid even though the first laps have not been completed. But Oakes assures that it was pragmatism that won out, while believing that Alpine could better understand its real technical capabilities on the chassis side with an engine that could be a reference.
“In life there is no absolute certainty, but I think you have to be pragmatic. I don't know all the ins and outs of the decision, because it was made a little before I started . But if I had to look into it, I would probably say that history shows that every time there has been a change in regulations, they [Mercedes] were strong.”
“The great advantage of this situation is that it gives us the opportunity to compare ourselves to others”he adds. “Ultimately, currently we are not producing a perfect chassis or engine, and we are very honest and humble about that. So, for me, another thing that this brings us is, I dare say, we have to look in the mirror and also work hard on the chassis side; It’s a challenge we should enjoy.”
“From my point of view, this is what we come to work for. We want to prove that we are the best, that we are good at our job and that we can produce a good racing car.”
With Oleg Karpov and Jake Boxall-Legge
