Gerard Larrousse, an iconic figure in Formula 1, suspects that Renault may be setting the stage to completely pull out of the sport.
Ongoing leadership changes and upheaval continue at Renault's struggling Alpine F1 team, with Oliver Oakes now officially succeeding the recently exited Bruno Famin as team principal.
At the young age of 36, Oakes is now the second-youngest team principal in the history of Formula 1.
Having once competed in single-seater racing and won the karting world championship in 2005 at 17, the Briton has built a reputation as the co-founder of the F2 and F3 team, Hitech.
Recently, Hitech - like Andretti-Cadillac - sought to join the Formula 1 grid as either the 11th or 12th team, but it is believed the Hitech bid was turned down due to connections with Nikita Mazepin's family and questionable financial backing from Kazakhstan for the F1 venture.
Larrousse, now 84, once managed Renault's original factory F1 team in the mid-1980s, and he shared with France's Auto Hebdo this week his disbelief that the brand might cease its engine program at Viry.
"I thought it was fake news," he said to the magazine.
"For me, it's a terrible shock and a great sadness. We put together an extraordinary engine manufacturing team for Renault. I don't see how you can race an Alpine with a Mercedes engine," Larrousse continued. "Those two don't marry together.
"An Alpine is made to have a French engine. So I must admit that I don't understand. Or perhaps I do understand that it is the beginning of an operation by Renault aimed at withdrawing completely from F1."
Auto Motor und Sport's Tobias Gruner concurs.
"Alpine has so far always denied that the team is for sale," he noted. "However, all the signs indicate that the team is being prepared for a takeover."
Auto Hebdo's F1 correspondent Jean-Michel Desnoues believes that Flavio Briatore, the new executive advisor for Alpine, is deeply involved in these pivotal decisions.
"It only took one man - Flavio Briatore - to draw a line under half a century of history, demolishing an entire section of French automotive heritage," he stated.
Pierre Gasly is set to continue with the team into 2025, and it seems Jack Doohan, currently the team's reserve and a rookie, is likely to replace Esteban Ocon to be Gasly's teammate next year. Oakes, however, reportedly favours his own protege, Paul Aron.
Mick Schumacher is also a contender on paper, though 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve questions the German's prospects.
"The push has been made by Mick and his people, but no one seems to be jumping to get him on their team."
"For teams, it's worrisome. Do they want to take the risk of hoping Mick is better than he was? It doesn't look like it at the moment," Villeneuve remarked.
