Break-in at Alpine F1’s engine facility triggers industrial espionage fears

A mysterious break-in at Alpine’s Viry power unit facility has sparked speculation of industrial espionage, as reports suggest nothing was stolen.

Alpine’s former F1 power unit headquarters at Viry-Chatillion was broken into on Monday night, according to reports in French media.

Intruders trespass at Alpine power unit headquarters

The Viry-Chatillion facility has housed Renault’s power unit manufacturing facility for circa 40 years, including the initial stages of the development of the F1 2026 power unit that would have been sat in the back of the Alpine F1 car next season.

According to France’s Le Parisien, police have confirmed two individuals broke into the building’s entrance hall in order to enter the lobby and, once inside, made their way straight up to the upper floor where the offices of senior management and Alpine executives are located.

Several office doors were apparently opened in the intruders’ quest, with police sources suggesting that the individuals appeared to have some knowledge of the premises.

The initial reports claim nothing was damaged in the break-in, and team sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com that nothing appears to have been stolen: no material objects, equipment, or documentation are amiss.

“Nothing was stolen. Everything is fine. There were no employees there at the time,” a source close to the F1 team is reported as telling the French publication.

An investigation has been confirmed by French authorities, which is being overseen by the Division of Territorial Crime (DCT) as the police attempt to identify what the motive for the break-in may have been.

With no confirmed theft, one hypothesis suggested is that of industrial espionage. While Renault pulled the plug on its F1 2026 power unit, changing its racing model to switch to a customer supply deal with Mercedes, the effort for the new engine was quite far advanced, and in September 2024, factory staff released an audio clip of the engine running on a test bench.

In mid-to-late 2024, Renault announced its intentions to close the F1 power unit division and re-purpose the Viry-Chatillion facility into a state-of-the-art engineering hub for the Renault Group’s motorsport and mobility initiatives.

This was a decision met with dismay by the staff at Viry, who assembled a staff representative council named the Comite Social et Economique (CSE), which staged peaceful demonstrations outside the facility.

A statement from the CSE in September 2024 decried the decision to shut the F1 power unit project, saying that, “the end of the F1 motorisation, the lack of maturity of the projects brought in, and the loss of management means there is a major risk that critical skills will leave the Viry site.

“Despite the turmoil of the last 2 months, the Viry team has continued to develop the power of the 2026 engine, which Alpine is losing. This contrarian decision means that Alpine is missing out on its sporting history.

“For all these reasons, the employee representatives on the works council unanimously voted against the transformation project.”

Ultimately, the transformation project did proceed, with former Alpine F1 team principal Bruno Famin overseeing the operation.

In theory, the intellectual property of the abandoned Renault F1 2026 power unit could still have been stored within the premises.

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