Reports from Germany are confident: Fred Vasseur is in talks to bring dozens of Alpine engineers to Ferrari
The current state of Alpine and the Renault group, at least in F1, is disastrous. The French team has plummeted, lost its most experienced driver, relying instead on a young talent from its Academy, and is now second-to-last in the championship, only ahead of the struggling Stake Sauber. The news of Renault’s withdrawal from F1, as Alpine’s power unit supplier, has been a huge blow to both Viry-Chatillon and Enstone, affecting thousands of workers, many of whom are now “free agents.” The collapse of Renault-Alpine has led to this exodus, and according to reports from Germany, Ferrari may be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
According to the well-known German publication “Auto Motor und Sport,” the exodus of engineers from the French team is already underway, and there are even rumors of talks with Ferrari in the past few days. Fred Vasseur, who has already brought in Loic Serra as Ferrari’s new technical director for the next season (poaching him from Mercedes), despite missing out on Adrian Newey, is reportedly looking to recruit several figures from Alpine (though no names have been revealed yet). This would be a major blow for Alpine, which would be forced to start from scratch for 2026, with no certainties and a team that would need to be rebuilt from the ground up.
However, Ferrari is not the only team considering this move. According to the German publication, both Audi and Red Bull have also shown interest with Horner and Binotto (the latter gave an important interview yesterday) reportedly initiating talks to hire some of the engineers leaving France. By the end of 2025, these engineers could find themselves without a guaranteed future in F1 due to Renault’s withdrawal from Viry-Chatillon. It’s also worth noting that, as Davide Brivio hinted weeks ago, Alpine is likely to rely on Mercedes power units going forward.
A necessary revolution: What lies ahead for Alpine?
Unfortunately, the catastrophic year Alpine has experienced may not be just a temporary setback. Flavio Briatore, who was brought in by CEO Luca de Meo to help Alpine recover from this crisis, is acutely aware of the immense challenges the team faces. Once a promising motorsport contender, seen as an alternative to Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes, the French team has now sunk to the bottom of the standings, with significant financial losses.
Briatore’s words from a few weeks ago now resonate even more: “We need to rediscover the team spirit and put the right people in the right roles. To do that, we need to re-motivate everyone, but this will take time. The current situation is far from ideal, and competition is fierce. There are already 6-7 teams fighting to win races.”
So where did Alpine go wrong? Briatore has his own theory: “I think the problem was appointing some bad leaders. We will rebuild starting with Oliver (Oliver Oakes, the current Alpine team principal). He’s young, enthusiastic, full of energy, and ambitious, which is exactly what the team needs. He lacks experience in a major F1 team, but he has the talent to succeed.”
Photo: BWT Alpine F1 Team, Pierre Gasly X
