Renault sells historic Viry F1 engine facility to Belgian powertrain group Dumarey

Renault has agreed to sell its Viry-Châtillon engine facility to Belgian powertrain company Dumarey Group, ending the French manufacturer’s direct ownership of a site that housed its Formula 1 engine programme for several decades. The acquisition proposal has already been submitted to Alpine Racing, with both parties working to analyse the organisation’s structure and finances before moving forward.

The deal covers the full acquisition of Alpine Racing SAS, located in the southern suburbs of Paris, including all teams and the tangible and intangible assets required to operate the site. Dumarey Group, which specialises in powertrain technology and engineering components for mass-produced vehicles, said it is “seeking to diversify its activities into motorsport” and that the transaction “creates opportunities to leverage Renault’s Formula 1 engine expertise for racing teams in the future”.

Renault pulled the plug on its in-house engine department at the end of last year, with Alpine opting instead for a customer deal with Mercedes. That decision put hundreds of jobs at Viry at risk and left the facility’s long-term future uncertain.

Alpine is also exiting the World Endurance Championship at the end of this season, having used Viry to maintain and assemble the Mecachrome-built engines powering its A424 LMDh Hypercar. The sale could carry implications for the A424’s future beyond Alpine, with factory partner Signatech keen to continue running the car under a different brand in 2027.

Signatech had appeared close to finalising a deal with Chinese brand Geely following last month’s Fuji 6 Hours, but those talks appear to have broken down. The deadline to enter the 2027 WEC Hypercar class is 25 November, and team principal Philippe Sinault has maintained that the engineering and mechanical resources needed to continue the programme are in place. Confirming a driver lineup — following the departure of Antonio Felix da Costa — remains among the outstanding tasks.

Axel Plasse, VP Alpine Tech, said the transaction “represents a strong and coherent opportunity to secure and further develop the expertise of the Viry-Châtillon site” and “opens up new prospects for employees and for the engineering business”.