General
Alpine knows nothing about agreement with Williams: 'Are not actively looking'
- GPblog.com
The rumours have been getting stronger and stronger in recent weeks: Alpine would be working closely with Williams next season. In fact, the British team would even become a customer and a junior team from 2022 onwards. Laurent Rossi, however, says that Alpine can also exist in Formula 1 without a partner.
"We were open to the idea, but we're not necessarily keen on it," CEO Rossi said in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com. The Frenchman tells the German medium that it certainly doesn't hurt to have a partner team, but that it's also not a must at all. "That's because we are building on the current Formula 1 team. We need full autonomy, full independence and full commitment to ourselves."
Rossi, who was previously active within Renault as a 'Strategy Offer', therefore also sees the advantages of being alone. "We can fully concentrate on developing our own engine and putting it in our own car, which is a big advantage because you are not distracted by other activities," he states. According to Alpine, there are indeed advantages concerning cooperation. "But to be honest, that can be negated very quickly if you get problems."
No active search
Now that McLaren has switched to Mercedes engines, Alpine is on its own from 2021. Despite this, finding a partner team is not at the top of the list for the French formation. "It is not something we are actively looking for," Rossi concludes.