The 2026 Formula One season is set to feature a major technical overhaul, as the cars are set to look and sound different with the regulation changes taking effect that year.

Those 1.6-liter V6 turbo hybrid power units are set to benefit from increased battery power and fed with sustainable fuels. As such, major regulation changes normally mean it’s beneficial for new entrants as all will be coming from scratch. However, it turns out we’ll also see the end of an era for one of F1’s long-time engine manufacturers.

Renault has announced they will no longer produce F1 power units after 2025, turning the Alpine F1 Team from a works team to a customer team by the 2026 season.

Currently, Alpine’s F1 operations are split into two factories – the chassis side at Enstone in the UK, and the engine division at Viry in France. The latter will be shut down to make way for the birth of “Hypertech Alpine” – a high-performance production vehicle engineering and innovation center for Alpine and the Renault Group.

This puts an end to Renault’s role as a power unit supplier in F1 which dates back to 1976 when they first started building engines in the Viry base.

On the other hand, Alpine will remain at F1 but will be entering an engine supply deal with the rest of the existing engine manufacturers. With Aston Martin switching to Honda power by the 2026 season, Mercedes is emerging as the leading candidate for Alpine. Previously, the Enstone outfit was supplied with Mercedes power units when they were still called Lotus back in 2015.