The Alpine F1 team, owned by Renault, is going through a tumultuous patch. A massive re-organisation has been taking place internally since last year, and rumours are abound that the team is looking to ditch their works Renault engine program and switch to a customer program. In all of this chaos, Rich Energy has come out with a revealing statement.
Rich Energy CEO, William Storey, took to his LinkedIn account to revealed that the company was on the verge of acquiring a 70% stake in the team. Rich Energy was hoping to re-enter the sport after their short-lived title sponsorship deal with Haas from 2018-19.
Storey said, “The bombshell news that the Renault board have decided to close the Viry-Châtillon factory near Paris – with the loss of potentially 100s of jobs, has been an enormous blow to the Rich Energy Global Topco bid for the Alpine F1 team. We have been working on this bid, entirely under the radar, for over a year.”
Renault’s decision to shut down their engine manufacturing facilities was not all that alarmed Storey. As he explained, despite an exclusivity clause in their arrangement to purchase 70% in the team, shares were also sold to the Ryan Reynolds led investment conglomerate.
Moreover, the 45-year-old was skeptical about the direction the Renault board were heading for. As he explained, Rich Energy were blindsided by the announcement of Flavio Briatore returning to the team, after the controversial Crashgate incident.
Is Alpine F1 up for sale?
As per Storey, the offer on the table for Rich Energy was to purchase a 70% controlling stake (Renault’s shares) in the team for around $250,000,000. However, in the February of this year, the asking price was upped by the team to almost $500 million.
What turned out to the final straw for the British company was the decision to abandon the Renault engine program. According to Storey, the acquisition deal included a five-year power unit arrangement with Renault. However, after this latest news, those plans have gone down the drain.
An F1 return for Nikita Mazepin could be on the cards if Alpine merge with Hitech.
New Alpine boss and Hitech founder Oliver Oakes is known to have close connections to the Mazepin family.#F1 #Alpine #NikitaMazepin #Hitech pic.twitter.com/ndM1Pma5ZL
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) August 3, 2024
Storey also hinted at a possible takeover by Hitech Grand Prix. Hitech owner, Oliver Oakes was recently unveiled as Alpine’s new team principal, and the rumor mill believes that this is the first step in selling the entire team to the organization. Meanwhile Hitech have been linked with Uralkali and a possible return of Nikita Mazepin, the same has been denied by the team.
