Renault hasn’t “disappeared” from F1, but it has completely stepped back as a branded team and as a works engine supplier, with its role now sitting behind the Alpine name and customer engines from 2026 onward.

What Happened to Renault F1?

From Renault to Alpine

  • The Renault F1 Team was rebranded as Alpine for the 2021 season as part of a corporate push to promote the Alpine sports-car brand instead of the Renault badge.
  • The Enstone-based chassis operation stayed the same (same factory, same core team), but the cars and team identity became Alpine F1 Team , with Renault remaining in the background as the owning group.
  • For fans, the “Renault F1” name vanished from the grid, even though the structure behind Alpine is effectively the old Renault works team in a new color scheme.

The End of Renault Engines

  • Renault continued supplying its own F1 power units to Alpine through the early 2020s, but performance lagged; they were generally considered down on power compared to Mercedes, Ferrari, and Honda/Red Bull.
  • In late 2024–2025, Renault decided to shut down its F1 engine programme at Viry-Châtillon, ending nearly 50 years of on‑off engine history and multiple championship‑winning eras.
  • From the 2026 rules reset onward, Alpine is set to run Mercedes customer engines instead of a Renault works power unit, making 2026 the first season without a Renault engine on the grid since 2000.

Why They Made These Changes

  • Performance: Renault’s hybrid-era engines never fully closed the gap after 2014, and under the development freeze they were stuck at a disadvantage, leading to frustration and limited results.
  • Cost and strategy: Maintaining a full works power-unit project for only one team is extremely expensive; shutting the engine arm and buying customer units is cheaper and lowers risk.
  • Brand focus: Renault’s management chose Alpine as its hero brand for motorsport and performance, so marketing value now flows through Alpine instead of the Renault name itself.

Is Renault / Alpine Leaving F1?

  • Despite scrapping the engine programme and cutting other racing projects (like Alpine’s WEC and Dacia rally-raid programmes), Renault’s top management has publicly said they do not intend to sell or quit F1.
  • CEO Luca de Meo has repeated that F1 is central to Alpine’s strategy, even as the team struggles for results and finished at the back of the constructors’ standings recently.
  • Flavio Briatore, brought back as an advisor, has even talked up ambitions of race wins in 2026 and title contention by 2027, banking on the reset with the new regulations and the Mercedes engines.

Where Things Stand Now (2026 Context)

  • On the 2026 grid, you’ll see Alpine with Mercedes power , not Renault engines and not a Renault-branded team.
  • Renault’s legendary engine record (dozens of wins and multiple titles as a supplier) is now “frozen in time,” with their historical tally potentially being overtaken by Mercedes in the coming years.
  • Inside the paddock and fan forums, there’s an ongoing debate: some see the engine exit as smart cost-cutting and focus; others view it as a sad end to a giant that once dominated F1 and, in their eyes, “beat itself” through mismanagement and shifting priorities.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.