Renault CEO offers glimmer of hope for F1 engine program

Renault CEO Luca de Meo has offered concerned and frustrated Alpine F1 employees a reason to be optimistic about the future of their engine program.

For several weeks, staff at the Viry-Chatillon facility, where Renault engines are developed and manufactured for Alpine's Formula 1 efforts, have been staging protests.

Although no official decision has been made, de Meo is clearly considering ending the F1 engine program to cut costs and potentially boost performance by switching to customer Mercedes engines.

However, the union-supported protests by the French workforce secured a direct meeting with the Renault CEO on Friday.

In a statement later published by the French sports daily L'Equipe, staff representatives described the meeting as "constructive."

"The efforts and concrete proposals made by the Viry-Chatillon delegation seem to have resonated with management, which is continuing its reflection on maintaining F1 activities on the French site," the statement added.

Nonetheless, staff also acknowledged that the "risk" of the F1 engine program being discontinued "persists, at the very moment when industry in France needs to support its talents."

Further protests are reportedly in the works.

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