Formula 1 News: Hope for Renault’s endangered engine program (Update)

(GMM) The midnight hour is approaching for Renault’s days as a works engine manufacturer in Formula 1 and still no word after de Meo met with workers.

Since CEO Luca de Meo revealed that the program could be scrapped and replaced by customer Mercedes engines for the Alpine team, staff at Renault’s Viry-Chatillon facility have been up in arms.

Backed by the union, the disgruntled workers secured a recent face-to-face with de Meo, but now the September 30 deadline for Renault’s final decision is looming.

“A few days before a strategic decision by Renault Group on the cessation of French F1 engines on the historic site of Viry-Chatillon, the sky is getting darker,” the union-backed Alpine F1 engine staff declared in a new statement.

The workers said they are yet to receive an official response from de Meo following their September 20 meeting with the Renault chief executive.

“The finish line is approaching,” they explained. “After the vote on Monday, September 30, the Alpine Racing France transformation plan could be implemented.”

(GMM) Renault CEO Luca de Meo has given angry and worried Alpine F1 staff members reason to hope.

For weeks, workers at the Viry-Chatillon facility, where Alpine’s works Renault engines are designed and made for Formula 1, have been protesting.

Although the decision is not final, de Meo is openly planning to scrap the F1 engine program to save money and for a performance boost, with a switch to customer Mercedes power on the cards.

The union-backed staff members’ protests, however, did secure them a face-to-face meeting with the Renault CEO on Friday.

Related Article: Renault CEO de Meo to meet angry Alpine F1 staff

In a statement issued later, reproduced in the French sports daily L’Equipe, staff representatives reported that the meeting had been “constructive”.

“The efforts and concrete proposals made by the Viry-Chatillon delegation seem to have resonated with management, which is continuing its reflection on maintaining F1 activities on the French site,” the statement added.

However, the staff also admitted that the “risk” of the F1 engine program being scrapped “persists, at the very moment when industry in France needs to support its talents”.

More protest actions are reportedly now being planned.