What Renault boss Luca de Meo’s shock departure means for Alpine F1 team

Luca de Meo, the man credited with saving the Renault brand, has quit as chief executive of the French automotive manufacturer.

De Meo departs for the luxury goods industry as the new boss of Kering, which counts Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent among its subsidiaries. Both his departure and destination can be considered somewhat of a surprise for the self-confessed car enthusiast.

He leaves behind the ‘Renaulution’, the title he gave to the strategy that would transform the fortunes of Renault Group. Indeed, de Meo arrived at the company in the summer of 2020 after it posted a €7.3 billion (US$8.6 billion) loss. The Italian exits having seen Renault Group post an operating profit of €4.3 billion (US$4.9 billion) in 2024.

While de Meo’s legacy with the overarching company will be remembered positively, the sentiment is not quite the same when it comes to his oversight of its Formula One team. After all, the shrewd financial management for which de Meo is famed is drastically at odds with the investment required to compete at the top of Formula One.

This culture clash led to a series of decisions that have permanently altered the future trajectory of the Enstone-based outfit, yet de Meo has departed before the consequences are felt.

What legacy does de Meo leave in F1?

No Formula One team has undergone more chopping and changing in the five or so years that de Meo has been in charge.

The Italian was quick to rebrand the team from Renault to Alpine in 2021 in a move to promote the company’s sportscar brand on a wider scale, but the structure of the team was rarely organised enough to ensure this became an effective marketing platform.

De Meo dispensed with the services of long-serving team principal Cyril Abiteboul in the process of rebranding the team, promising a new dawn for the outfit, but it fell far short of the success that would have been envisaged.

MotoGP legend Davide Brivio was brought onboard to run trackside operations in 2021 but his role regularly conflicted with Marcin Budkowski, who joined the team at a similar time from the technical department of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Brivio was quickly sidelined due to this confusion before returning to MotoGP as team principal of Trackhouse Racing. Budkowski opted to leave the team before the start of the 2022 season, while executive advisor Alain Prost severed ties with Alpine after six years.

Alpine appointed former Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer as the new boss from 2022 but lasted barely a year before exiting alongside sporting director Alan Permane and chief technical officer Pat Fry, the former of which had begun his career with the Enstone-based team in 1989.

Then came the muddled decision to transfer leadership responsibilities to Bruno Famin on an interim basis in 2023. Famin then served on an ‘interim’ basis for an entire year before being replaced by Oliver Oakes, who lasted ten months before handing in his resignation in May 2025.

Just before Oakes began his short time in charge, Alpine controversially welcomed back Flavio Briatore to the fold, 16 years after his involvement in the Crashgate scandal. Briatore is now the de facto team principal of Alpine.

How much damage did Laurent Rossi cause?

Perhaps the most consequential decision of de Meo’s reign came right at the beginning with the appointment of Laurent Rossi as chief executive of Alpine Cars.

Before being replaced by Philippe Krief in 2023, Rossi was responsible for the departures of Prost and Budkowski, failed to keep hold of star driver Fernando Alonso and then lost his replacement Oscar Piastri to McLaren, now a contender for this year’s driver’s championship. 

Formula One legend Prost scathingly described Rossi as ‘an incapable leader who thinks he can overcome his incompetence by his arrogance and his lack of humanity towards his troops’ in a column for L’Equipe. Just two months before being deposed, Rossi had called the Alpine Formula One team “amateurish” ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Despite holding that view, Rossi was quick to revel in the success of the team. Indeed, he fought his way onto the podium at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix to accept the trophy for the winning constructor. Rossi also partially took credit for the team’s podium finish in Monaco in 2023 in comments to Reuters.

Rossi was quick to position himself on the podium to celebrate Esteban Ocon’s shock victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

What will de Meo’s departure mean for Flavio Briatore?

As mentioned, the return of Briatore was highly controversial and de Meo was a key supporter of making it happen, perhaps highlight how desperate he was to turn around the ailing Formula One team. 

This season, Briatore has already decided to replace rookie driver Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto after just six races. The more experienced Argentinian has delivered the same disappointing results as his predecessor thus far.

Briatore’s bruising management style will likely see another change to the driver lineup before the series reaches Abu Dhabi for the final race of the season in December, but will the enigmatic Italian be there to see the chequered flag?

When approached by BlackBook Motorsport for comment, Alpine shared the following statement.

“First of all, I would like to thank Luca for his amazing support and trust, not only at a personal level but also to the team and its ambitions for the future in Formula One,” said Briatore.

“As a team, we will continue on the path undertaken last year to rebuild and return the team to a strong level of competitiveness and target podium finishes in the new regulation era in 2026 and beyond. I also want to wish Luca every success in his future ventures.”

Whether Briatore will see this plan out depends on Renault Group’s succession plan for de Meo.

Who will assume control of Renault Group?

Early reports indicate that Denis Le Vot, the head of Dacia, is the early frontrunner to replace de Meo, with Maxime Picat, chief operating officer of Stellantis, also under consideration.

An external appointment could be particularly threatening to Briatore’s position. Technically, he is not a full-time employee of the team and a new chief executive may take issue with this arrangement, especially with rumours that Briatore’s contract entitles him to cuts of commercial deals.

Of course, Le Vot is formerly of Renault Group and so could therefore be an amicable appointment for Briatore, as would an internal promotion like Philippe Krief.

But current Alpine driver Pierre Gasly kept his cards close to his chest when discussing the departure of de Meo, saying he needed to “find out what this means for the team” in comments made at the premiere of the new F1 movie in New York.

In this light, a succession plan appears far from finalised, but de Meo’s parting comments on the growing threat of the Chinese automotive industry will dampen expectations of continued growth. After all, Renault has begun to struggle up against the cheaper electric vehicle (EV) alternatives on offer from the country.

Briatore will be acutely aware that his position is under threat if an external appointment is made, rather than an acolyte of de Meo

Does this change the decision to halt Alpine’s F1 engine production?

In short, de Meo’s decision to shut down Alpine’s Formula One engine programme will not change.

Engines had been designed and produced at the team’s base in Viry-Chatillon, France, since the 1977 season, but from next season Alpine will switch to a customer supply from Mercedes.

This was a financially-driven decision by de Meo, as so many were during his time in charge. But it also aligns with the future direction of the Alpine brand, something that has perhaps been overlooked.

In comments to L’Equipe, de Meo revealed the company was “losing €40 million [US$43.9 million] per day” when he took over in July 2020, and noted that the production costs of Formula One power units range “between 200 and 250 million per year”, forcing Renault to take steps to address its financial situation.

“We’ve been in a downward spiral for three seasons now,” he continued. “Two more years like this, and the project would completely collapse. We had to do something to make a change.”

Crucially, the Alpine sportscar brand will become fully electric by next year. From a strategic perspective, this no longer aligns with producing an engine for a Formula One team or, perhaps, even competing in the series.

Is the F1 team now more likely to be sold?

Before his departure, de Meo had to bat away numerous questions around the future of the team.

“I want to make this very clear,” de Meo told Autocar. “There is no way we are going to give up.

“It’s not my style. We will not sell even a part of this thing. We don’t need the money. I’ve had people making offers left and right, then talking in the press about it. But we’re not interested. It would be stupid and I won’t do it.”

Well, de Meo won’t do it, but de Meo is no longer in control of that decision. Now, questions around the future of the team are likely to intensify, especially once the Italian’s replacement is decided.

A sale might also be of interest to RedBird Capital Partners, Otro Capital and Maximum Effort Investments, who have a combined 24 per cent minority stake in team. At the time, this was valued at €200 million (US$217.8 million). According to the latest estimations of Formula One team valuations, this stake could now be worth north of US$360 million.

Ultimately, any decision will be financially motivated. That said, a continued slowdown for Renault Group up against Chinese competitors may make the decision for the new boss.

Whatever happens next, de Meo’s departure means the Alpine Formula One team is about to embark on a new era.