Since the triumphant return of Renault to the high-octane world of Formula 1, the journey has been less a glorious resurgence and more a slow, disheartening decline. Despite the initial fanfare and the promise of rekindling the championship-winning glory, the French outfit—now rebranded as Alpine—has consistently delivered “lackluster results” and a series of “questionable moves from management” that have left the F1 community bewildered and frustrated. This consistent failure, fueled by underfunding and a chronic, destructive cycle of staff turnover, has led many to a singular, unavoidable conclusion: the Alpine F1 team must be sold.

This isn’t merely a harsh judgment on a team going through a slump; it is a desperate call for necessary intervention. The heart of the matter is that the organization, as currently structured under Renault’s corporate governance, is fundamentally incapable of success in the complex, high-pressure, and uniquely independent ecosystem of Formula 1. The team’s dedicated staff, from the engineers to the pit crew, are the first casualties in this boardroom war, and they “deserve an ownership team that gives them the resources and ability to compete in F1 without really undermining them.”

The Corporate Handcuffs: Where Dreams Go to Die

The core illness afflicting the team stems from the relentless corporate interference from Renault. Unlike the most successful and dominant F1 teams of history—such as Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari or the modern Red Bull Racing empire—which were “allowed to just be a race team,” Alpine is continually governed by the distant, often ill-informed hand of its parent corporation. This corporate meddling is described as a historical misstep, with Renault corporate liking to “dip their hands into the race team all the time,” a practice the sport has repeatedly shown to be detrimental to achieving consistent performance.

Formula 1 requires agility, long-term vision, and a dedication to the sport’s unique unpredictability. Renault’s favored management tool—the rigid, “5-year plans and other similar time frame related goals”—is entirely incompatible with this environment. In the nuanced world of F1, success is heavily “reliant on the other teams to be not performing as well,” and the technical complexity evolves constantly. These fixed timelines merely set “unrealistic expectations,” leading to a constant cycle where goals are missed and the “can just keeps getting kicked down the road.” What works in typical forms of business administration simply doesn’t work in the hyper-competitive, fluid reality of Grand Prix racing.

The Exodus of Excellence: Talent Made to Look Incapable

The consequence of this managerial chaos and the failure of unrealistic corporate goals has been a devastating staff turnover that has gutted the team of experienced, talented personnel. The sheer volume of high-profile departures has led to a situation where exceptionally talented people have been “made to look incapable inside of that team.” The list of names reads like a roll call of F1 veterans who have since found success elsewhere, or whose careers were simply derailed by the instability.

We have seen the departure of figures like Alan Permane, who has since become the Racing Bulls Team Principal, alongside Otmar Szafnauer, Pat Fry, Bruno Famin, and the legendary Alain Prost. These are not minor figures; they are highly skilled operators and strategists who were either “sacked or just to made look a fool” as a result of Renault’s ongoing management crises. Furthermore, the corporate team’s managerial ineptitude was laid bare for the entire world when they “fumbled the bag with Alonzo and Pastri.” While Oscar Piastri’s eventual placement at a successful McLaren team was a positive outcome for him, the sheer mismanagement of a star driver and a future champion prospect underscores the fundamental “not good capabilities of the rental management at times.” The lack of a stable, consistent leadership structure ensures a constant internal struggle, preventing the team from ever achieving the synergy necessary for top-tier competition.

The Cynical Marketing Exercise and The Brand Protection Racket

Perhaps the most frustrating truth for dedicated fans is the realization that, for Alpine, the F1 team is not a genuine pursuit of sporting excellence but rather a thinly veiled “marketing exercise.” While other teams like Haas and Racing Bulls may exist near the borderline of this issue, the Alpine case is an “even more exaggeration” because they possess the resources and capability to compete at the top, yet choose not to. The upper management at Renault, according to observers, “doesn’t particularly care” about the actual race results; they simply wish to “badge it with an Alpine tag and try to get the marketing dollars from it.”

The irony is that this cynical strategy is backfiring spectacularly. The purpose of the Alpine F1 team is to “market the Alpine car brand,” yet the F1 car’s consistent performance issues—its reputation for being “slow” and having a “slow” engine—does not exactly instill a desire in consumers to “buy an Alpine car.” Poor performance actively tarnishes the brand it is meant to promote. Furthermore, a deeper, unspoken reason for the initial rebrand from Renault to Alpine may have been to shield the main Renault road car business from the shame of consistent failure in the sport. The rebrand was a strategic move because Renault was being “made to look like a fool in Formula 1,” and they desperately wanted to avoid that mess affecting their main business. This speculation points to a management team more concerned with damage control than competitive integrity.

The Final Straw: Flavio Briatore’s Shocking Return

If any single move confirmed the team’s questionable judgment and signalled its ultimate instability, it was the recent return of Flavio Briatore. The decision to bring back Briatore, years after his involvement in the notorious ‘Crashgate’ scandal, is a staggering demonstration of tone-deafness and desperation. His mere return to Formula 1 at all is “questionable in and of itself,” but his return to the very team where he facilitated that major scandal is “a whole other thing.”

While the organizational structure and personnel have changed significantly since the scandal, the “optics of it are just absolutely horrible.” It raises serious questions: “did Renault not expect people to not ask questions and not care?” This baffling move is one of those “mind-bogglingly questionable moves by Renault” that, once again, leads the entire paddock and fan base to firmly believe “that the team is going to be up for sale at some point.” The combination of corporate overreach, the destruction of its internal talent, the failure of its marketing objective, and the deeply controversial leadership decisions all converge on the necessity for a complete change in ownership.

The Next Chapter: Who Will Rescue the Enstone Outfit?

The call to sell the team is a plea to put it “into the hands of another owner who will really take care of that team and try to be a successful Formula 1 team.” As Renault’s engine program cessation and management upheaval strongly point toward a pending sale, the focus shifts to the potential buyers circling the Enstone factory.

The most logical and persistent contender is Hitech. Currently a powerhouse in Formula 2, Hitech’s intense desire to join the premier class is well-known, having already submitted a bid to join F1 that was ultimately denied. Buying an existing infrastructure, even a struggling one, makes “a great deal of sense for them” as a backdoor entry into the exclusive F1 club.

Another serious contender from the automotive world is Hyundai. Their interest in Formula 1 has been bubbling, with rumors of inquiries and a stated desire to become more involved in motorsport. Buying an existing team is a much “smaller investment than starting up a team from scratch,” positioning Hyundai as a real possibility, depending on Renault’s chosen timeline.

More “left field possibilities” exist, including Porsche. Porsche, like Hyundai, was keen to enter F1 without building a team from the ground up, famously having a deal with Red Bull that fell apart due to control issues. Buying Alpine could finally give them the entry and control they crave. Additionally, the F2 powerhouse Prema could potentially be interested in making the massive leap to Formula 1, following their expansion into IndyCar.

Perhaps the most dramatic possibility, stemming from the recent turbulence in the sport, involves Christian Horner. It is difficult to imagine Horner returning to F1 in a simple team principal role; he would inevitably want more control, possibly by obtaining a “majority or partial equity stake in the team.” This could involve him joining an investment group, potentially even partnering with the recently departed Otmar Szafnauer, who is rumored to have investors interested in entering Formula 1. The prospect of a Horner/Szafnauer alliance acquiring the Renault F1 team is an outside shot that would deliver a plot twist for the ages.

Regardless of the buyer, the consensus within the F1 world is clear: for the sake of the staff, the sport, and the fans, the time has come for Renault to let go. All recent indicators—the management reshuffles, the reintroduction of Briatore, and the effective cessation of the engine program—all ultimately lead to one thing: a necessary and overdue sale.