F1 News: Alpine Halts Potential Andretti Engine Partnership
Alpine has discontinued its preliminary engine deal with prospective F1 entrant, Andretti. Interim team principal, Bruno Famin, clarified that an initial pre-agreement expired, and no current contract exists between the two entities.
Key Takeaways:
- Alpine and Andretti's initial pre-contract for engine partnerships expired due to a conditional F1 entry date not being met, necessitating fresh negotiations for any future deal.
- Although the pre-agreement is no longer active, Alpine has not ruled out future negotiations; however, these are on hold until FOM's approval of Andretti’s F1 entry is confirmed.
- Delays in decisions could hinder the timeline to develop a customer engine project, potentially impacting Andretti’s preparedness for the 2025 season.
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Diligently crafting its entry into Formula 1, Andretti had orchestrated a strategy, initially allying with Alpine for power units and potentially other vehicle parts, while simultaneously collaborating with GM and Cadillac to devise its own power unit for future use. However, Alpine’s recent statements reveal a deviation from this trajectory following the FIA's approval of Andretti's entry, now pending a commercial deal from FOM.
In a conversation with Autosport, Famin disclosed the lapse of their initial agreement with Andretti, stating:
“We had a pre-contract with Andretti, which has expired because they were supposed to be granted an F1 entry before a given date.
“So right now, we have absolutely no contract with Andretti.”
The expiration of the pre-agreement means that to proceed, a formal contract, subject to new negotiations, must be established. Despite this, Famin elucidated that further discussions have neither occurred nor are planned until FOM validates Andretti’s entry, remarking:
“Everybody knows what the situation is. We need something, and we need a decision from F1 before resuming with Andretti.”
Despite Andretti allying with GM, Famin underscored that partnering with a competing car brand would not alter Alpine’s stance on a short-term customer engine deal. Still, he acknowledged the criticality of timeframe considerations, signifying that if confirmations are delayed until next year, 2025 engine readiness could be compromised.
He conveyed:
“I'm not talking about [only] Andretti, but we start the supply of parts for the season a very long time before.
“But, for the time being, it's even useless talking about that, because let's see, we don't have the starting point.”
Famin concluded that while Alpine is not opposed to supplying engines to Andretti, it concurs with other teams that any new addition to F1 should demonstrably benefit the entirety of grand prix racing, asserting:
“What we don't want is that an 11th team dilutes the value of our assets in the championship. Of course, if that will be the case, we will be against that.”
