Alpine Denies Rumors The F1 Team Might Go Up For Sale, But Here's Why It Might Make Sense To Do It
One of the big stories through the first four races of the Formula 1 season has been the lack of performance from Alpine.
Three teams have yet to score a point this season; Alpine is one of them, along with Williams and Sauber.
Sauber and Williams' early struggles seem easier to diagnose. Williams can't seem to stop crashing while Sauber has an issue with — of all things — their wheel nuts, which causes painfully long pit stops.
Alpine can't seem to compete despite a strong driver lineup of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. That means the car is the problem.
The start is so bad that multiple outlets — including Autosport — report that rumors are heating up that Alpine's parent company, Renault, may be willing to sell the team.
However, a statement from the team said that this isn't the case.
"The rumours and stories about the team being for sale are false," the statement reads. The team is categorically not for sale."
So the team isn't for sale (although let's be real: for the right price, anything is for sale), but would it make sense to sell the team?
It actually might…
Alpine has struggled out of the gates in 2024. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
An Alpine Sale Might Make Some Sense, But It Could Be A Tough Sell
Performing so poorly on track as a works team is a bad look, especially as Alpine is gearing up to bring consumer cars to the US in the next couple of years. It may not be a deal breaker for some people, but there's no doubt that trundling around at the back of the grid is a bad look for the Alpine brand overall, no matter how many athletes and celebrities have been brought into the fold over the years.
Alpine has better success in the World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, so bowing out of F1 to devote more resources would make a lot of sense.
However, there is believed to be a pretty big condition and that is that any potential buyer continues to use Renault power units, and it's reported that this would be until 2029.
Plenty of outfits would love to get in on Formula 1, notably the Andretti-Cadillac partnership, but having to use a Renault power unit might be a tough sell to potential buyers.
Engine development is frozen until new regulations come into play in 2026 of the four engine manufacturers currently on the grid Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull (Zombie Honda), and Renault — Renault's PU is known to be the least powerful on the grid.
So, that would mean if you bought Alpine, you'd be stuck with the worst engine on the grid in 2025. Now, there's a chance that Renault will make some gains in 2026 with the new regulations, but that would be a gamble. If it works out, awesome, but if it doesn't you're on the backfoot engine-wise for several more seasons.
Additionally, Andretti-Cadillac — the group that appeared to want in on F1 the most — had plans to join the grid using a Cadillac-developed power unit.
There's always the option of pushing the GM/Cadillac engine back a couple of years if that's what it takes to simply get on to the grid, but who knows if GM would want to do that.
Of course, that partnership wouldn't be the only potential buyer out there, but again, the Renault connection would be a tough sell.
Although, remember; they're not actually for sale (*wink*)
The easiest way to put this to rest is for the team to start winning, and from what we've seen so far, that'll be tough. The next race is in China and with some high-speed straights, that may not be great for the team.
As we saw with McLaren last season, a mid-year development explosion is possible, but that was with a better power unit in the back of the car.
Still, who knows, maybe Alpine will prove the haters — and all the people who thought they might be able to get a good deal on a team at the back of the grid — wrong.