Wolff addresses Alpine F1 engine rumour

Toto Wolff insists Mercedes is "open-minded" to the possibility of supplying customer power units to Alpine from 2026.

Alpine's parent company Renault is currently evaluating whether to shut down its power unit operation at Viry in favour of taking on a customer power unit supply from another team, most likely Mercedes. 

The current breed of engines are locked in until 2025 with new power units, featuring beefed-up electrical systems coming into force from '26. 

The Renault unit in the back of the Alpine is known to be under-powered with the team unable to make performance-related upgrades after the power unit freeze came into force. 

When it was Lotus in 2015, the Enstone team which morphed into Alpine ran customer Mercedes High Performance Powertrains units, with HPP set to lose Aston Martin to Honda come 2026.

Addressing the idea that Alpine could replace Aston, Wolff is open to the idea, but feels the current situation is "complicated."

"It is a complicated situation because we like the thought of replacing Aston Martin with another team because of the sheer learning you're doing," Wolff explained to media including RacingNews365. 

"I think we're set up as an organisation that the more power units [we supply] the better it is in terms of accelerating some of the developments or the reliability. So this is where it is. 

"It hasn't gone beyond the point of exchanging opinions and having exploratory discussions. 

"Alpine needs to take a decision, do they want to continue with their Formula 1 engine programme or not? 

"Only when they have taken that strategic decision, we would dive into our agreements, but we're open-minded, and that's what we have told them."

Then asked if he expected a decision before the looming summer break, Wolff added that "no, it is far too a complicated and long-lasting, impactful decision for Alpine to make."

A warning

Williams boss James Vowles - whose team will continue with Mercedes power into 2026, added that the framework of those cars means such a late power unit change would put Alpine well behind the curve. 

"The more power units you have in circulation, the more learning you have, there's no doubt about that in the current season," Vowles said. 

"From our perspective, we have been working alongside HPP in order to get the concept right for ‘26 already for many, many months. 

"So whatever you do, you're going to be six to 12 months behind the three other teams. That's quite penalising in the grand scheme of things.

"It doesn't mean it's unachievable, but there's going to be areas where you're going to be compromising on. 

"There's a tremendous amount of work getting ‘26 right, and the smallest decision on layout can actually have quite a large impact."