Renault faces regular criticism for the way it runs its Formula 1 team, and the idea of ​​Alpine giving up its factory status to become an engine customer for Mercedes has angered many people.

That’s usually the case with pragmatism.

If we are in 2016 and Renault is only three years into the hybrid era and is still struggling to find its way, then I can understand the “how could you?!” arguments about abandoning the engine program. You have to give these projects time. They require huge investments and then a lot of patience to see if the money and effort put into them brings the right results.

But the Renault engine project is now past that time. Hybrids have been around in Formula 1 for a decade. And unfortunately, Renault, a manufacturer with a brilliant Formula 1 history, is still lagging behind its competitors in the engine battle.

If the reason is a lack of investment in the engine program, then you should either invest what you need or stop doing it half-heartedly. It looks like Renault has chosen the latter. That’s a shame, but ultimately better than continuing to deliver substandard work in the misguided hope that you have some mythical higher potential as a manufacturer team.

I admit that this is a sober view, and I hope that the assumption that everyone who works at the Viry-Chatillon plant will keep their jobs is correct.

That will be no consolation to those who perhaps only work there because they want to work in Formula 1. How would I feel if I worked for a media company that decided to close a department I worked in on the grounds that it was not performing well enough, when that poor performance was due to the parent company not investing properly? It would suck even if I was told, “Don’t worry, we have other projects outside of what you like to do that will give you a job.”

But Formula 1 is normally a passionless business where only results count. It is from this perspective that I look at this controversial decision.

And if you’re at Alpine now, do you want to continue to tell yourself that you can be a Mercedes or a Ferrari one day, or do you look at a customer team like McLaren, who many currently consider the favourite to win the Constructors’ Championship this year, and think, “Why don’t we try to be THAT?”

Making it sound so easy does McLaren no favours. And it is assumed that without an engine department to consume resources, Renault would invest properly in its racing team instead. But let’s assume that Renault did that.

If you are Renault, do you continue with the ‘works team’ project that you have largely botched over the last eight years and the engine project that has not been convincing for ten years, or do you start again?

The assumption that moving to a customer setup limits this team’s potential implies that it could reach its maximum potential as a factory team, but there is little evidence to support this. So, as Formula 1 becomes more and more balanced, there is no shame in wanting to become the next McLaren of Formula 1.

We are not in an era of Formula 1 where the difference between factory and customer status means you are a leader or a follower. Yes, new engines for 2026 could briefly turn the tide, but who remembers 2014? Would you have preferred to be a Renault factory team or a Mercedes customer in the first year of hybrid models?

If Alpine goes ahead with this move, it will have to maintain very high standards. It would remove the burden of Renault’s engine division, but it would also give it an excuse. Customer status is not a free pass to drive around the middle of the pack and admire your bank balance.

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t want Formula 1 to lose an engine manufacturer. Certainly not one with such a brilliant history. But how many memorable moments can we associate with Renault in Formula 1 over the last decade? The fact that Red Bull called its engines “Tag Heuer” for three years hardly counts.

Pragmatism is rarely universally popular as it usually involves compromise. And as I said, Formula 1 is all about results, so if you were to ask me which combination Alpine-Renault or Alpine-Mercedes is likely to be more successful in the coming years, the choice is unfortunately obvious. Ultimately, that’s all that matters.