Andretti will receive Alpine power units should the American outfit join the F1 grid, confirms French team's CEO

Alpine has shared a willingness to be Andretti's power unit supplier if the American brand joins the field in 2026. Alpine's bid to join the sport has faced a lot of resistance from teams on the grid, who are reluctant to have an 11th team.

Teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Haas have been vocal against adding another team to the grid. Andretti, though, have support from McLaren and Alpine, who have both given their nod of approval for the American brand to join the sport.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed that the reason behind both McLaren and Alpine's acceptance of Andretti is because of financial interests. McLaren have had a relationship with Andretti in IndyCar and beyond, while Alpine are expected to be the American team's power unit supplier.

In congruence with Horner's comments, Alpine's Laurent Rossi told Reuters that the French team will supply power units to Andretti should the team make it to F1. He said:

“We agreed that if they get their licence to run in Formula One, then we will provide them with a powertrain. “But it’s up to them to show that they can join the Formula One circus, and for that, they need to go through the hoops, the process in place where they submit applications, and they show that they bring value to the F1 circus and teams in general."

He added:

“It’s for them to prove it and for the others to assess. If they join, we’ll be happy to join them. If they don’t, it means that all in all, it didn’t work out.”

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"It's a nice to have, not a must-have" - Alpine CEO

Rossi did, however, add that the French brand will not go out of its way to get Andretti on board.

If the American brand becomes a part of F1, it would be a nice addition for Alpine, as it would have access to varied and more data for its PU. Rossi, though, added that it Andretti's arrival is not a neccesity, elaborating:

“It’s a nice to have, it’s not a must-have. We could use a second team because you accumulate more data across four cars than you do with two. But it’s a drag on your team as well, so you need to be completely well-structured. We couldn’t do that two years ago.”

It will be interesting to see if Andretti secure a place in F1. Having an American brand as a customer is going to be a boost for Alpine too.