{"id":468869,"date":"2026-02-09T17:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468869\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T17:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:16:10","slug":"renault-slammed-for-lies-and-betrayal-as-f1-sites-future-looks-bleak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468869\/","title":{"rendered":"Renault slammed for \u201clies and betrayal\u201d as F1 site\u2019s future looks bleak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Viry-Chatillon mayor Jean-Marie Vilain has condemned Renault for allegedly breaking its promises regarding the future of its former Formula 1 engine factory.<\/p>\n<p>Renault ended its F1 power unit programme at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign as the world championship switched to a new engine formula, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/team\/alpine\/24858\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alpine<\/a> team taking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/team\/mercedes\/5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mercedes<\/a> customer status under returning team boss Flavio Briatore\u2019s impetus.<\/p>\n<p>Read Also:<\/p>\n<p>The decision made by now-former Renault CEO Luca de Meo was bitter for the hundreds of workers at the Viry-Chatillon factory, who unsuccessfully protested it.<\/p>\n<p>However, they found solace in plans to rebrand the site as \u2018Hypertech Alpine\u2019, with avenues such as designing Alpine\u2019s next supercar, advancing battery and electric technology, and supporting WEC, Formula E and rally-raid racing programmes \u2013 while keeping an eye on F1.<\/p>\n<p>Vilain has now revealed Renault, under new CEO Francois Provost, is scrapping these plans. An internal announcement is expected on 12 February.<\/p>\n<p>The Viry-Chatillon mayor, who has been in office since 2014 but is not running in next month\u2019s mayoral election, published a press release that was given the following headline: \u201cLies and betrayal by the Renault group regarding the Alpine site in Viry-Chatillon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/aerial-view-of-the-renault-fac-1.jpg\" alt=\"Aerial view of the Renault factory at Viry-Ch\u00e2tillon\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Aerial view of the Renault factory at Viry-Ch\u00e2tillon<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Renault<\/p>\n<p>In a video on social media, Vilain explained: \u201cI just found out from those directors themselves that those commitments won\u2019t be fulfilled after all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am as shocked as I am upset with those promises being reneged on, which also shows total disrespect towards the employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am therefore urging the Renault group and its shareholder, the [French] state [which owns 15% of Renault], to overturn their decision, and I reserve the right to lead \u2013 alongside the Alpine employees and any elected officials willing to join me \u2013 all possible actions to protest what I view as a real betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alpine\u2019s WEC programme has been rumoured to be scrapped beyond the 2026 season, which the brand has neither confirmed nor denied.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the Viry-Chatillon factory may be shut down altogether also remains to be seen. This might put a definitive end to Renault\u2019s glorious legacy of 169 grand prix wins and 23 F1 world titles as an engine manufacturer.<\/p>\n<p>            We want your opinion!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-auto\">What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"#\" class=\"ms-link text-link font-bold\">Take our 5 minute survey.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-1 text-body\">&#8211; The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Viry-Chatillon mayor Jean-Marie Vilain has condemned Renault for allegedly breaking its promises regarding the future of its former&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[821,64,63,817,813,816,239535,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-468869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-alpine","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-renault-slammed-for-u201clies-and-betrayalu201d-as-f1-siteu2019s-future-looks-bleak","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}