“The ambitions are great”- Williams to abandon Mercedes’ ship and ally with Alpine, as the French team eye progress under new leadership.
Williams for long enjoyed the partnership with Mercedes, but with McLaren expanding their relationship with the reigning champions, it seems appropriate for Alpine to swoop Williams away.
According to a report published by the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday, Williams may join hands with Alpine, abandoning Mercedes’ ship.
“The ambitions are great, and it is very clear to De Meo, as well as to anyone who understands motorsport, that as long as Alpine is on its own, it will not be able to compete on equal terms with Mercedes, which has three customers (McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams), with Ferrari (Alfa Romeo and Haas) and with Honda (Red Bull and Alpha Tauri),” the paper said.
In the span of two years, Alpine lost three major customers in Red Bull, Alpha Tauri and this year McLaren, leaving them without any scope to export their power unit.
Hence, Williams’ arrival could ease the French team’s business, which may never manage to acquire their former customers ever again in the foreseeable future.
A territory to groom academy products
Furthermore, the paper has further speculated that Williams may also become a sister team to Alpine, where the latter would develop its academy products.
Currently, Alpine has bright prospects in the name of Christian Lundgaard and Guanyu Zhou, and they would need a space in F1 by 2022. Alpine would need to clear their own space to accommodate them, which is not going to happen.
So, it is better to draw some bargaining power over another team. If Alpine manages to establish control over Williams, George Russell would need to be relocated by Mercedes in 2022.
