The group of staff at Viry-Chatillon is not too pleased with the decision of Renault to make its base Hyperteach Alpine, as it still expects shuffles and drops.
The France’s social and economic committee has stepped in the latest drama to follow after Groupe Renault’s decision to terminate its F1 power unit programme at its Viry base and convert it into a Hypertech Alpine base, which would largely look into WEC and Dakar programmes.
It will have one eye on F1 technology too, but that would be without work on power unit from 2026 onward when the new regulations kick in. Following the decision, a group of staff via CSE, has released a strongly worked answer, highlighting various shortcomings despite the decision.
Here’s what they said –
“All the staff representatives, representing the voice of the employees and a majority of the stakeholders, regret and deplore the decision to stop using F1 engines in 2026. This choice has been endorsed by the [Renault] Group, which wishes to reduce the financial risk associated with F1, even though no serious study has been carried out to assess the impact on future sales and the prestige of the brand. The Group has ruled out partnership solutions, even though they would have made it possible to meet several objectives: maintaining an F1 business, reducing development and operating costs, retaining all the skills, and the possibility of taking a RE26 engine that has already been largely developed and is promising until the 2026 season.
“The content, resources and sustainability of the new projects that management wishes to bring to Viry are still largely unclear. The communicated size of the F1 monitoring unit (staff and budget) still seems too small, and calls into question Alpine’s potential return as an engine manufacturer. The history of the Viry site shows that decisions to the contrary have often been taken, and demonstrates the importance to maintain highly qualified skills for the future in order to leave the door open to a return to F1 when the regulations and the shareholder’s financial situation make it more attractive. On January 1, the Viry-Chatillon site will be reduced from 500 to 334 jobs, with the end of contracts for a large number of service providers, along with the loss of around a hundred indirect jobs at the main partners by the end of 2024.
“The end of the Concours d’Excellence Mécanique Alpine (CEMA), supported by the French Ministry of Labour, Health and Solidarity and the Ministry of Education and Youth commitment to equal opportunities, promoting gender diversity and raising the profile of a sector of young talent. Concluding, the staff representatives for the Renault engine employees said that “the end of the F1 motorisation, the lack of maturity of the projects brought in and the loss of management means there is a major risk that critical skills will leave the Viry site.
“Despite the turmoil of the last 2 months, the Viry team has continued to develop the power of the 2026 engine which Alpine is losing. This contrarian decision means that Alpine is missing out on its sporting history. For all these reasons, the employee representatives on the works council unanimously voted against the transformation project. We call on the public authorities to defend the long-term future of jobs at the Viry-Chatillon site.”
Here: https://x.com/LaVoixDeViry/status/1841129647381070028
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Here’s F1 bosses on Alpine PU situation