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Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor
MONZA, Italy — Roughly 100 employees of Alpine’s Formula One engine programme will attend Friday practice at the Italian Grand Prix to protest the French company’s plans to close down its F1 power unit project in 2026.
The Renault-owned Alpine F1 team is currently powered by French-built engines made in Viry-Châtillon, but in July the company announced its intention to cease production of its own power units at the end of 2025 and switch to a customer engine deal from 2026.
A final decision on the future of Viry-Châtillon is set to be made on Sept. 30, with Alpine in discussions with Mercedes about an engine deal to replace the in-house power units.
Around 100 employees from Viry-Châtillon will travel to Monza for Friday’s practice sessions ahead of the Italian Grand Prix and plan to present banners in the grandstands with a “clear and non-aggressive message, advocating for the retention of a French engine in F1.”
The employees will wear a white t-shirt featuring the Alpine logo as well as a black armband, while a statement from Alpine Racing’s Works Council, which is organising the protest, said trackside employees within the team’s garage would also wear the black armband “if possible.”
The statement stressed “no action will prevent track operations from taking place.”
At the same time as the protest at Monza, the majority of employees at Viry-Châtillon plan to go on strike in solidarity.
“We do not understand what justifies killing this elite F1 entity that is the Viry-Châtillon site and betraying its legacy and DNA by implanting a Mercedes heart or any other into our Alpine F1,” the statement from the Works Council said.
“The announcement of the end of the development and production of French engines for Formula One is incomprehensible.
“We cannot conceive that Alpine and the Renault Group would betray their purpose and damage their image.”
Alpine Racing issued a statement of its own in response to the action.
“We are aware of some activities planned this weekend from staff of Viry,” it said. “We understand from their communication these will be peaceful protests and will not impact team operations.
“The transformation project is still being evaluated and no decision has been taken yet by Alpine’s management.
“The dialogue, which opened since the project was presented to the Viry employee representatives in July, is important to Alpine’s management and will be pursued in the upcoming weeks.”
Source: www.espn.com