Following the shock news that Luca de Meo resigned as Renault Group CEO, Ted Kravitz has questioned whether Renault “want to sell” the Formula 1 team.

It’s not the first time that’s been speculated, with Pierre Gasly calling for the team to stick together even “though not everything is great at the moment”.

Could the Alpine F1 team be put up for sale?

Renault announced on Sunday that de Meo had handed in his resignation after five years at the top of the company.

“Luca de Meo has expressed his decision to step down in order to take on new challenges outside the automotive sector,” the company said in a statement.

The shock announcement raised the question of what’s next for the Enstone team, which has undergone several notable leadership changes, including the departure of team principal Oliver Oakes’ earlier this season.

Not for the first time, it has pundits questioning whether Renault’s F1 team, which today runs under their Alpine brand, could be put up for sale.

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It was speculated last year when former Renault F1 team boss Flavio Briatore rejoined as an executive director that his mandate was to bolster the team and package it for sale, but that was denied by the Italian as well as de Meo.

But with a new CEO set to come on board, and Alpine yet to confirm Oakes’ replacement, Kravitz claims selling the team could be one of Renault’s options.

“When you’re Flavio Briatore and your title is executive advisor to Luca de Meo, the chief of Renault and then Luca de Meo, the chief of Renault decides that now is the time for him to not be the chief of Renault anymore and leave the company, then where does that leave Flavio Briatore?” Ted Kravitz mused in his Ted’s Notebook for Sky F1.

“[He’s] executive advisor to no one at the moment. Team principal, would he like to appoint himself [as the] proper team principal? I don’t know, maybe.

“Who will the new CEO of the Renault group be, again, we don’t know, they will figure that out within the top of the French company.

“And then will that new CEO, Luca de Meo’s successor, A, want to continue with Formula 1, which is not a given, the new CEO can decide that they might not want to continue with Formula 1 completely.

“B. If they do, do they want to sell the team. I don’t know. Otmar Szafnauer is looking for a team to buy. C. Does the new CEO want to keep Flavio Briatore on as an executive advisor?

“So, you can see some pretty big questions down here at the Alpine Formula 1 team at the moment.

“Does the new CEO whoever they are want it to carry on being called Alpine? They might want it to go back to Renault.”

But determined to avoid the speculation surrounding his newest F1 team, Gasly has called for unity within the Alpine, adamant there are a lot of positives happening in the background.

“First of all, I think I need to have all the information,” he told the media in Montreal.

“I obviously have a very good relationship with Luca, he was the one that took me into the team, and I think he’s a very inspiring person.

“So obviously, first reaction is that I’m very sad to see him leave.

“I’m sure he’s got some good reasons, and I think at the end, for us as a team—even though not everything is great at the moment – there’s still a lot of positives happening at the factory.

“For me, it’s important that we keep that momentum going into ’26, because the picture and the performance could be very different. And we need to keep that in mind.

“Obviously I need to sit down with management and understand a bit more hat it means for the team, etc. But you know, at the end of the day, we all have our job, we all have our role, and we all need to focus on what we’ve got to do and do it best. But yeah, for sure, I’m gonna sit down with everyone.”

Quizzed on whether the latest turmoil was distracting the team, he replied: “I understand that. It’s completely normal, it’s completely human to feel that.

“And I think it’s important for all of us to stick as a team and stick together in these types of moments. And, you know, rely on each other and just trust the long game.”

10 races into the F1 2025 season, Alpine are bottom of the Constructors’ standings with 11 points on the board, nine behind Sauber.

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