Bruno Famin to leave Alpine
Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) (AFP) - The Alpine Formula One team announced Friday that team principal Bruno Famin will leave his post at the end of August.
Frenchman Famin will remain in charge of all other motorsport activities of the Renault Group, based in the French town of Viry-Chatillon.
“I will step down from the team principal role by the end of August and be fully dedicated to the Viry-Chatillon activities from the 1st of September”, said Famin during a press conference.
“A new team principal will be announced in due course,” a team statement said.
Famin was initially placed in charge on an interim period, after the departure of previous team boss Otmar Szafnauer at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, and was confirmed as team principal before the start of the current season.
Alpine recruited Flavio Briatore as executive advisor in June to help turn their fortunes around after a difficult start to the season.
Alpine are eighth of 10 in the constructor standings, while Pierre Gasly is 15th in the driver standings with Esteban Ocon, who is leaving for Haas at the end of the season, three places lower.
Famin also revealed that Renault was planning to stop its production of engines for its Alpine F1 team.
“The project… is to reallocate the resources from one side to another, one side being the development of the Formula 1 power unit, which is being made in Viry, to dedicate those resources and skills to developing new technologies for the brand, for the new product of the brand,” said Famin.
“One of the consequences of this project… would be then for Alpine F1 team to buy a power unit instead of developing its own power unit.”
Alpine, whose chassis are manufactured in Enstone, England, is reportedly close to reaching an agreement for 2026 with Mercedes, which currently equips the Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin teams.
“Considering the stakes of the new project… I think it will be much more useful for the company to dedicate my time, to concentrate my time to the Viry activities and to the transformation project, if it’s confirmed, because it will be a huge impact,” added Famin.
In addition to F1, Renault’s motorsport activities include the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and Formula E. They will also compete in the 2025 Dakar Rally via Dacia – another group brand.