The team have been unable to claw back engine performance because of a freeze that was introduced in 2022 and runs until the end of 2025 with the aim of allowing manufacturers to spend their time, money and resources developing the new-for-2026 PUs, without having to divert resource to continually improving the current generation of engines.
In July, staff at Viry – which is made up of around 300 employees, 200 of which work on F1 – were told a study into the operation had begun and could lead to the F1 project (that has run since the 1970s) ceasing and those resources, including people, being reallocated to other divisions.
On Monday, the Alpine Group confirmed this would be the case, with staff continuing to work on F1 power units until the end of 2025 – but without any further development on the 2026 PUs.
This means in 2026, the Enstone team will have to have a customer power unit supply for the first time since 2015, when they ran Mercedes power, with all future resources for the Formula 1 project being directed solely to the UK factory.