Renault boss blasts F1 team for 'looking like jokers!'

Renault CEO Luca de Meo has delivered a scathing verdict as to the French manufacturer will be pulling out of F1 after almost a 50-year involvement.

Following months of apparent deliberations, Renault decided this week the 2025 season will be its last in F1, opting not to continue with its development of the all-new 2026 power unit.

The decision has naturally been heavily criticised, not least by the 300-plus workforce at Renault's Viry-Châtillon factory, whose jobs have at least been safeguarded with involvement in other projects.

De Meo has stated the Alpine team's wretched form, with this season the nadir of its four years since the team was rebranded ahead of the 2021 campaign, has forced his hand and that of the board.

"Fans - except the real enthusiasts, I agree - and sponsors come for a team, not for an engine," said De Meo, speaking to L'Equipe. "Partners sign with McLaren, not with a Mercedes under the hood.

"The F1 public has changed. It has expanded to include young people, women. This new clientele has a different interpretation of this sport.

"We support a driver, a colour, a brand. Not an engine. Alpine, given our ranking [ninth in the constructors' Championship] is losing bonuses. Sponsors are rare. We have a hole in the air. My shareholders know how to count. Alpine has to make money."

Suggested to De Meo that accountancy goes out of the window when a team is performing, he concurred but added: "Now, with our P16, P17, we look like jokers. We are nowhere.

"The famous 'marketing returns' have vanished. Even though they are not quantifiable in money."

Decision was 'heartbreaking'

De Meo has insisted the final decision made was "heartbreaking", and that he feels for all of those concerned at Viry-Châtillon.

But he maintains he had a duty of care to the wider company, with the likelihood now, Alpine with partner with Mercedes in 2026.

"It's a very emotional subject," said De Meo. "This decision is the result of months and months of observations.

"I would first of all like to say that I admire the commitment and tenacity of the people at Viry-Châtillon. I know they will tomorrow imprint this state of mind in the forthcoming projects.

"They are optimistic, and that's good news. I like to see them so disappointed with this decision, but unfortunately, in my job, I can't think like a fan. That's to say, I am a manager. I run a listed company, and I have to rethink the F1 project to finally win, so I am looking for shortcuts to achieve it.

"There, we have become invisible. Two more years like this and the project would completely deflate. We have been on a downward slope for three seasons. We had to shake all that up, with a financial logic in parallel."