Ferrari has taken advantage of Renault’s decision to shut down Alpine’s Formula 1 engine division ahead of the 2026 regulations, but recent reports suggest that the Scuderia’s new recruits from the French manufacturer are not entirely impressed with what they have encountered since moving to Maranello.
In 2026, Ferrari will be one of five official engine manufacturers on the Formula 1 grid, alongside Mercedes, Honda, Audi, and Red Bull Powertrains. Audi is set to make its debut as a full factory team, while Honda will part ways with Red Bull to supply Aston Martin. Ferrari will also supply engines to Cadillac, marking the American brand’s entry into F1, as well as continue their ongoing partnership with Haas. Meanwhile, Alpine will cease to operate as a factory F1 team, instead becoming a customer of Mercedes engines.
Renault officially announced in September 2024 that it would close its F1 engine division at Viry-Chatillon, foregoing the development of a power unit for the 2026 regulations. Ferrari has capitalized on this exit by recruiting several engineers from Renault’s defunct program.
According to reports from Formula1.it, the engineers who have recently joined Ferrari from Alpine’s Renault division have expressed disappointment with the performance of the Scuderia’s 2026 power unit. Some of these technicians reportedly evaluated Ferrari’s early work and found it lacking compared to the benchmarks they had achieved at Alpine, with a few even described as having “rejected” Ferrari’s initial efforts.
The group of former Renault engineers reportedly believes that Ferrari’s 2026 power unit, at its current stage, may actually underperform compared to Alpine’s preliminary power unit tests conducted before Renault’s division was closed. Despite the fact that Alpine never fully developed its 2026 engine due to Renault’s early shutdown, the engineers assert that their data from the Viry-Chatillon tests demonstrated stronger results than Ferrari’s current findings. Ferrari is now relying on these new hires to identify weaknesses and improve the power unit ahead of the upcoming season.
Ferrari faces a limited timeframe to implement upgrades to the 2026 engine that will power Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri oversees all aspects of Ferrari’s 2026 engine development and is expected to coordinate closely with the former Renault engineers to address any shortcomings revealed by early testing.
The Scuderia will need to finalize and incorporate any technical recommendations before production begins on the power unit, with pre-season testing scheduled to start from January 26 to 30 in Barcelona. Time will be critical, as Alpine is already facing constraints due to Renault’s departure, which has caused a shortage of engine components. This lack of availability has affected drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, costing them valuable lap time throughout the 2025 season and forcing Alpine to carefully manage engine mileage.
Ferrari will now look to leverage the expertise of its newly recruited engineers to ensure that Hamilton and Leclerc have a competitive power unit under the 2026 regulations, while working against a tight development timeline and the lessons learned from Alpine’s previously cancelled engine project.
