Alpine-Mercedes close to finalizing a technical partnership for as early as 2025: Reports

It's being reported that Alpine and Mercedes are close to finalizing a technical partnership for as early as the 2025 season. The French manufacturer has been in talks with Mercedes for a deal over a power unit deal for the 2026 season, as they plan to abandon their own engine department in Viry for the new engine regulations.

The Enstone-based team welcomed back Flavio Briatore as their executive advisor to help in off-track matters, with one of the matters being securing a new power unit supplier.

As per Motorsport.com, the talks between Alpine and Mercedes have now progressed to advanced stages, with the French team taking the place of Aston Martin in the Mercedes stable.

The Silverstone-based team used to have a technical partnership with the former world champions, including taking the key components such as suspensions, gearbox, and engines from the latter. The iconic British brand would develop its own technical components while entering an engine deal with Honda in 2026.

Alpine and Mercedes have entered the next stage of their talks, and if everything goes smoothly, they could tie up for the 2025 season ahead of the new engine regulations in 2026.

---

Mercedes team boss gives his take on Alpine link-up rumors

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has said that he has no issues in getting into a partnership with the Alpine F1 team. However, he emphasized that the French team need to sort out if they want to continue with their engine department or not in the future.

As per Motorsport.com, the Austrian said:

"That’s a complicated situation because we like the thought of replacing Aston Martin with another team, because of the sheer learning you're doing. I think we're set up as an organization that the more power units, the better it is in terms of accelerating some of the developments or the reliability.

"It didn't go beyond the point of exchanging opinions or having exploratory discussions. Alpine [need to] take a decision, do they want to continue with their Formula 1 engine program or not? And only when they have taken that strategic decision, we would dive into our agreements. But we're open-minded, and that's what we have told them."

McLaren CEO Zak Brown too gave his go-ahead, adding that they have had no issues in sharing power units with Alpine:

"What's good for HPP is good for McLaren, as far as we're concerned. They've been an awesome partner to work with, so if it adds value to their power unit proposition, then we're all for it."

However, neither the French manufacturer nor Mercedes have officially commented on the matter of getting into a technical partnership as of now.