FILE PHOTO: Renault Group's CEO Luca de Meo, speaks during the media day of the 91st Geneva Auto Show, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 26, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - Renault decided to end Formula One engine production after next season for financial reasons but its Alpine team is a "family jewel" and not for sale, chief executive Luca de Meo said on Friday.
In an interview with sports daily L'Equipe, the Italian defended the strategy of Alpine racing from 2026 with a power unit provided by another manufacturer, most likely Mercedes.
The move, announced this week, will end nearly half a century of Renault engines in F1, with the French manufacturer powering Williams, Benetton, their own team and Red Bull to 12 constructors' titles.
De Meo said Renault were spending 200-250 million euros ($220.5-275.7 million) a year on engine production at the Viry-Chatillon facility outside Paris, while buying an engine from another manufacturer would cost less than $20 million.
He added that Renault was at a disadvantage to other teams in having chassis and engine factories in separate countries, with the team based at Enstone in central England.
"At Enstone they are very independent, used to working under different colours. I should have regrouped everything but it would have been in England. Hard, no?"," he added.
De Meo said former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore had been brought in to revitalise the F1 project, not oversee a change of ownership.
"I read that he was tasked with packaging the project to eventually sell the team. It's completely false," said the Italian.
"Every fortnight I get calls from financiers, eccentrics, who want to enter F1. They know that after 2026 it will be much more expensive.
"I won't sell, I'm not stupid. Being in F1 is essential for the Alpine brand. We are in a closed club. It brings credibility for the brand among motor racing fans. We don't need the money."
De Meo said most fans focused on the team and drivers rather than the engine, citing championship leaders McLaren who are winning and attracting sponsors while using a Mercedes power unit.
Alpine, whose investors include Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, had become "invisible" -- ninth of 10 teams, with vanishing marketing benefits.
"Two more years like that and the project would have deflated completely," said de Meo, who described new principal Oliver Oakes as a future great.
($1 = 0.9068 euros)
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
