javascript is disabled, enable it otherwise the site will not work properly!

javascript est désactivé, activez-le sinon le site ne fonctionnera pas correctement !

Alpine F1 Team

Alpine F1 Team, or currently BWT Alpine F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, is the name under which the Enstone-based Formula One team has been competing since the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault as well as Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, the team was rebranded for 2021 to promote Renault's sports car brand, Alpine, and continues to serve as Renault's works team. The chassis and managerial side of the team is based in Enstone, Oxfordshire, England, and the Renault-branded engine side of the team is based in Viry-Châtillon, a suburb of Paris, France. The team competes with a French licence.

Background

Origins of the team

The team has a long history, first competing in Formula One in 1981 as Toleman, when the team was based in Witney, England. In 1986, following its purchase by Benetton Group, it was renamed and competed as Benetton. As Benetton, it won the 1995 Constructors' Championship and its driver, Michael Schumacher, won two Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995. Prior to the 1992 season it moved to its current location in Enstone, UK.

By the 2000 season, Renault had purchased the team (for the first time), and by the 2002 season its name was changed to Renault F1 Team, and it was racing as Renault. Renault won the Constructors' Championship in 2005 and 2006 and its driver, Fernando Alonso won the Drivers' Championships in the same two years. In 2011, Lotus Cars came on board as a sponsor, and the team's name changed to Lotus Renault GP, though still racing as just "Renault" for that season. By 2012, Genii Capital had a majority stake in the team, and from 2012 until 2015 the team's name was Lotus F1 Team, after its branding partner, and it raced as "Lotus".

At the end of 2015, Renault had taken over the team for a second time, renaming it to Renault Sport Formula One Team. The team raced as "Renault" again, from 2016, and continued as such until the end of the 2020 season. When discussing the history of the organisation as a whole rather than those of specific constructors it has operated, the colloquialism "Team Enstone" is generally used. The team operates in a 17,000 m² (180,000 sq ft) facility on a 17-acre (6.9 ha) site in Enstone. By May 2023, Alpine had approximately 1,000 personnel in Enstone and 350 in Viry-Châtillon.

Early Alpine Formula One involvement

The involvement of the sportscar manufacturer Automobiles Alpine in Formula One can be traced back to 1968, when the Alpine A350 Grand Prix car was built, powered by a Gordini V8 engine. However, after initial testing with Mauro Bianchi at Zandvoort, the project was ended when it was found that the engine produced around 300 horsepower (220 kW) compared to the Cosworth V8 engines' 400. In 1975, the company produced the Alpine A500 prototype to test a 1.5 L V6 turbo engine for the Renault factory team which would eventually début in 1977.

In September 2020, Groupe Renault announced their intention to use "Alpine" as their works team's new name going forward to promote the Alpine brand, and thus the team is set to become known as the "Alpine F1 Team" whilst retiring the "Renault F1 Team" moniker after five years.

In June 2023, a group of investors, including actor Ryan Reynolds agreed a deal to pay €200 million for a 24% stake in the Alpine Formula One team. More investors joined the group later in 2023, including NFL players Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, golfer Rory McIlroy, former heavyweight champion boxer Anthony Joshua and footballers Trent Alexander-Arnold and Juan Mata.

Racing history

2021 season

Alpine signed two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso to replace an outgoing Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon was retained from the 2020 Renault team. The Alpine car uses Renault engines. Renault team boss, Cyril Abiteboul, announced he would leave as Renault transitioned to Alpine. Abiteboul was replaced by Davide Brivio, who previously worked for Suzuki in MotoGP.

Alpine's first race ended with Alonso being forced to retire, after debris caused his car to overheat. Ocon was hit by Aston Martin driver, Sebastian Vettel. Despite a disappointing start, Alpine scored in the next fifteen races, including a victory for Ocon at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. It marked the first victory for a French driver driving a French car powered by a French engine since Alain Prost's triumph at the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix driving a Renault car. Alonso also scored a podium in the Qatar Grand Prix, after qualifying fifth but starting third due to Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas gaining grid penalties.

2022 season

In January 2022, both team principal, Marcin Budkowski, and non-executive director, Alain Prost, left their roles. Otmar Szafnauer, formerly of Aston Martin F1 Team, was announced as the new team principal in the same month. Former deputy secretary-general for sport at the FIA, Bruno Famin, has been recruited as executive director of Alpine at Viry-Châtillon, responsible for power-unit development. Famin had also previously led Peugeot to three consecutive Dakar Rally victories as head of its sporting division from 2016 to 2018, and a Le Mans 24 Hours triumph in 2009 as technical head of its endurance program. Oscar Piastri replaced Daniil Kvyat as test driver. In February 2022, BWT became the title sponsor of the team, in a deal aimed at sustainability drive.

Alonso qualified in second for the Canadian Grand Prix, only behind Verstappen. This was his best qualifying position since the 2012 German Grand Prix, though he suffered an issue in the race and finished in ninth.

2023 season

Alonso moved to Aston Martin for the 2023 season because he wanted a multi-year contract extension, and Alpine was only willing to give him one more year in F1. Alpine announced that Piastri would be replacing Alonso; but Piastri immediately denied he had a contract to race with the team. Team principal Szafnauer criticised Piastri, saying that Piastri should show more loyalty to Alpine, and claimed that Piastri was thankful when told about his F1 promotion prior to Alpine's announcement. In September 2022, a hearing of the Contract Recognition Board determined that Alpine did not have a valid contract with Piastri and was free to race with rival team McLaren in 2023. During the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix weekend the team confirmed that Pierre Gasly has signed a multiple year contract with them starting in 2023.

In July 2023, Laurent Rossi was replaced by Philippe Krief as CEO. During the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Alpine announced that Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane will leave the team after the race. Chief technical officer Pat Fry will leave the team at the end of the year to join Williams.

Alpine finished the season sixth in the constructors' championship, while Gasly and Ocon were 11th and 12th, respectively, in the drivers' standings. The team reportedly lost about half a second per lap on average because the Renault power unit was lagging behind its rivals. Without this deficit, the team could have had performance similar to that of the Mercedes team.

2024 season

Alpine retained the driver pairing of Gasly and Ocon for the 2024 season. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, the team locked out the bottom of the grid in qualifying and finished the race in 17th and 18th. After the race, it was announced that Alpine's technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer had left the team, with the team moving to a structure of three technical directors, with Joe Burnell overseeing engineering, David Wheater for aerodynamics and Ciaron Pilbeam for performance. A few days later, it was reported that Bob Bell will leave his advisory role at Alpine to reunite with Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin in an operational role.