Pierre Gasly says it is sad to see Luca de Meo leave as Renault Group boss, as he awaits a sit down to understand what it means for Alpine and its F1 programme.
Renault announced the departure of de Meo during the F1 Canadian GP race, where it termed that the Frenchman is leaving the company to ‘pursue new challenges outside the automotive sector’. The board of directors accepted his resignation, which comes in effect from July 15 of 2025.
“There comes a time in one’s life when one knows the job is done,” said de Meo. “At Renault Group, we have faced immense challenges in less than five years! We have achieved what many thought impossible. Today, the results speak for themselves: they are the best in our history. We have a strong team and an agile organization. We also have a strategic plan ready for the next generation of products.
“That is why I have decided it is time for me to hand over the baton. I am leaving a transformed company, poised for the future, to apply my experience to other sectors and embark on new adventures. Leading Renault Group has been a privilege. It has been a human and industrial adventure that only happens once in a lifetime.
“For this, I will always be grateful to the women and men of this company – the ‘Renaulutionnaires’ – for their passion, their commitment and their conviction. They are the true driving engines. Moreover, I would like to thank Jean-Dominique Senard for choosing me several years ago, for his support and trust, as well as the Board of Directors, for believing in our projects. And the best is yet to come…”
It comes at a time when Renault has picked up in the automotive sector in terms of finances after cost cutting. On the F1 side, de Meo has been the key in its change to Alpine Racing. He also brought Flavio Briatore back after trials with the likes of Cyril Abiteboul and Otmar Szafnauer didn’t work out.
The results side hasn’t changed as much though. Apart from the change from Renault to Alpine, the big decision under de Meo was dropping the power unit programme from 2026 onward, which resulted in mass protests. Even though they retained employees in different sections, many were laid off still.
Gasly felt sad upon hearing the news since de Meo was key in Gasly’s hiring. The Frenchman didn’t wish to speculate the reasons. But he wanted to sit down with the management to understand the implications of de Meo’s departure and how it affects its F1 programme going forward.
He requested for unity. “First of all, I think I need to have all the information, obviously, I have a very good relationship with Luca, he was the one that took me into the team, and I think he’s a very inspiring person,” said Gasly to media. “So obviously, first reaction is that I’m very sad to see him leave.
“I’m sure he’s got some good reasons, and I think at the end, for us as a team – even though not everything is great at the moment – there’s still a lot of positives happening at the factory. And for me, it’s important that we keep that momentum going into ’26, because the picture and the performance could be very different. And we need to keep that in mind.
“Yes, obviously, I need to sit down with management and understand a bit more on what it means for the team, etc. But at the end of the day, we all have our job, we all have our role, and we all need to focus on what we’ve got to do, and do it best. But, for sure I need to sit down with everyone. I understand that. It’s completely normal, it’s completely human to feel that.
“And I think it’s important for all of us to stick as a team and stick together in these types of moments. And rely on each other and just trust the long game,” summed up Gasly, as fellow competitive and colleague Mercedes’ Toto Wolff shared his thoughts on de Meo as well.
Wolff has had discussions with de Meo considering Alpine is to buy power units from the German manufacturer from 2026 onward. “I’ve just heard it in the race,” said Wolff. “Look at me as a friend, someone that I respect very much. I don’t know what the future holds, but whoever gets Luca can deem themselves lucky.”
