Since last year, there is only one team driving around with a Renault engine in the back of the car and that is Alpine. Otmar Szafnauer is not sorry about that and sees advantages in not having customer teams.

Renault has long been an engine supplier in Formula 1, but other teams clearly do not have much confidence in the French manufacturer's power sources. Indeed, only factory team Alpine is driving around with a Renault engine, after McLaren switched to a Mercedes engine last year.

Surprisingly, team boss Otmar Szafnauer does not think it is such a problem to have no customer teams. He says so in conversation with GPfans.com. Thus, other teams always try to influence the design of the engine. "They always have their own wishes. They want a certain cooling, attach something to the chassis in a different way etcetera. Sometimes you have to make compromises and we don't have to do that."

Szafnauer also sees the advantages of having customers. For example, something can go wrong when installing the powerplant at another team and you learn from that.

Will Alpine accept another team?

If another team were to knock on the door for an engine from Renault, Szafnauer would be open to it. After all, a customer team also provides the necessary income and every team can use that. Yet the team boss does not seem to be jumping at the chance for other teams to knock on the door for a Renault engine.