Source: REUTERS/Carla Carniel
[Saba Sports News] Recently, Dutch F1 journalist Jack Ploey revealed on the sports channel Ziggo Sport that the Alpine F1 team is preparing for a sale. Ploey stated that the troubled Renault Holdings has canceled its plans for the 2026 power units and will switch to using Mercedes engines and transmissions, becoming a customer team. This exit is occurring gradually. However, this is not the only development; Renault’s CEO Luca de Meo has brought in Flavio Briatore as his new F1 executive advisor, and Briatore has appointed Oliver Oakes as the team’s new principal. Furthermore, there have been many high-level changes within the Alpine F1 team. In fact, Oakes has been very helpful to the Hitech F2 and F3 teams and attempted to bring his team directly into F1 in 2026 but was rejected. With Oakes as the new principal for the Alpine F1 team, Ploey predicts that Alpine will gradually transform into Hitech.