PARIS.- Mercedeseight-time constructors’ world champion in Formula 1will become the team’s engine supplier Alpine starting in 2026, the French team announced this Tuesday.
The agreement between the two brands will cover “the entire duration of the new regulations, from 2026 to at least 2030,” Alpine specified in its statement, which in addition to the engines will be able to count on the Mercedes gearbox.
Starting in 2026, the engines, which have already been hybrid for two years, will see an increase in electric power and will use 100% sustainable fuels.
This announcement comes just over a month after Renault, of which Alpine is a part, made it official that it will stop producing F1 engines due to their high cost, ending almost 50 years of the French brand as an engine manufacturer for the single-seaters of the highest category of motorsport.
Mercedes already supplies its engines to other teams such as McLaren, current leader of the constructors’ championship, Williams and Aston Martin, a team that will equip its cars with Honda engines from 2026, in a year in which others will join the F1 championship. manufacturers like Ford and Audi.
Marques appointed as race director
The German Niels Wittich, race director in Formula 1 since 2022, replacing Michael Masi, will leave his duties and will be replaced by the Portuguese Rui Marques, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced this Tuesday.
“Niels Wittich has left his position to seek new opportunities,” the FIA said in a statement, specifying that Rui Marques, until now race director in Formula 2 and Formula 3, will succeed him from the next race, in Las Vegas on the 21st. November.
That weekend, the current triple world champion Max Verstappen has a first opportunity to retain his world crown against his first pursuer, the British Lando Norris.
Wittich, 52, was named co-race director at the beginning of 2022 along with the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas, replacing the Australian Michael Masi, fired after the controversial decisions that allowed Verstappen to win in the last race of the 2021 season.
Since the end of 2022, Wittich held the position alone, after Freitas was fired, paying for the management of the Japanese Grand Prix that year, in which Verstappen was proclaimed champion in strange conditions.
