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Ryan Reynolds is no stranger to the automotive world, or to investing in sports teams. He and his friend Rob McElhenney are owners of the Wrexham AFC football club in the United Kingdom. A move that has seen the club become one of the most talked about across the world. Now, Reynolds and McElhenney have bought into the Alpine F1 team along with Michael B. Jordan. In a $200 million move which has seen Alpine sell a 24 percent stake in the team.
The move is another major investment for Reynolds in the sporting world, and having Jordan onboard is also a big coup for Alpine. The team will be hoping it leads to a Wrexham-style upturn in their fortunes and their exposure to the rest of the world.
Why Alpine Has Taken These Hollywood Investors Onboard
Alpine’s Current Formula 1 Achievements
- Victory in 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon
- Podium in 2021 Qatar Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso
- Finished fourth in 2022 F1 Standings
- Podium in 2023 Monaco Grand Prix with Ocon
- Signed Pierre Gasly for 2023 and beyond to replace Alonso
Reynolds and co have taken a big stake in the F1 team, and Alpine is hoping that the deal will see the team benefit from the track record of Reynolds and his group of investors. The group includes Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, and Maximum Effort Investors. The last of those is led by Reynolds and McElhenney, while RedBird has a big stake in the Fenway Sports Group. This is the group that also owns the MLB team Boston Red Sox, as well as Premier League club Liverpool FC. So there is some big power behind this group.
Alpine has done this with the aim of building outreach for the F1 team and building it up. Wrexham AFC in particular has benefited massively from Reynolds and McElhenney owning them. So when it comes to media, sponsorship, ticketing, hospitality, and more, Alpine should be in a position to grow beyond what they have now. The majority owners of Alpine, Renault, have stressed that the deal is purely for the F1 team itself. The engine side of the operation in Viry-Chatillon is still fully controlled by Renault itself.
Following the investment, the F1 team is now valued at over $900 million. This should help to accelerate Alpine’s growth plans and sporting ambitions as it works its way to the top of F1. Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine said that “This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels.” The investment by the Hollywood stars shows the boom that Formula 1 has gone through in the last few years. Which is partially down to the ‘Netflix effect’ and has seen it grow and grow. Particularly in the United States, historically where Formula 1 has struggled to gain traction.
Why Formula 1 Has Gained In Popularity In America
Formula 1 has seen its popularity in the United States rocket in the last few years. The sport managed to gain a foothold at last in the United States with the Grand Prix hosted at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Since then, it’s slowly grown in popularity, but it’s the Netflix series Drive to Survive that has really helped the sport grow. The series debuted in 2018, and is still going strong and has brought in a whole new generation of fans to the world of F1.
Another reason that F1 has grown so much is thanks to the 2021 season. The titanic battle for the title between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen produced perhaps the best Formula 1 season of the modern era. Certainly, the best season since the turbo-hybrid regulations were introduced in 2014. Despite the more predictable seasons that have unfolded since 2021, F1 is still enjoying a huge boom in the USA. In 2022, the Miami Grand Prix was added to the calendar. For 2023, Formula 1 will have three races in the USA thanks to the addition of Las Vegas. One of the most exciting races in recent years.
Reynolds and the Hollywood investors are not the only ones in America investing in Formula 1 either. Michael Andretti is pushing hard to create his own F1 team with an entry for 2025 or 2026. It received a huge boost in 2022 with the announcement that General Motors would back the entry with the might of Cadillac. This may even see the GM brand produce its own engines for the Andretti team, creating a potentially mighty works team from the United States. For Alpine though, it has lofty ambitions despite a trickier start to 2023 than it was expecting.
Alpine’s 2023 Season Has Not Gone According To Plan
After finishing fourth in the 2022 season, Alpine had ambitions to close the gap to the big three in F1 of Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. However, the team has found itself leapfrogged by Aston Martin, who now has the second-fastest car in F1. This is even more frustrating for the team given their old driver Fernando Alonso is now driving for their biggest rival. Reliability has also been a problem for the Enstone base outfit, with several failures occurring for its drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
A silver lining has been that Alpine is slowly recovering from its tricky start to the season. Their best moment has been the third-place finish Ocon took at Monaco, fighting off the attentions of Lewis Hamilton later in the race after rain threatened to derail things for the Frenchman. This was a much-needed result for the team. Especially after Laurent Rossi launched into a bit of a tirade against the team for their poor start to the year. A move that was seen as somewhat unfair by many within the paddock.
Reynolds Investment Is A Sign Of F1’s Surge In Popularity
The sheer size of the investment from Reynolds, Jordan, and McElhenney shows us just how popular Formula 1 has become. The calendar continues to expand as more countries look to secure a slot and hold a Grand Prix. Multiple new teams are keen on joining the grid, and tickets for races are selling out at a faster rate than ever before. Hollywood itself becoming heavily involved with an F1 team is a sure sign that F1 is still on an upwards trajectory. This is good news after the 2023 season has got off to a somewhat predictable start.
For Alpine as well, this is great news. It’s a sign that others outside the operation believe in its ambitions. Plus, it gives parent company Renault more finances to play with as they look to bring the team to the very top of the sport. So far, Alpine have their one victory in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, and two other podiums as their return in the sport. But they will be aiming to be fighting for the world championship in the next few years and follow Aston Martin in breaking out of Formula 1’s midfield.
Sources: Alpine, Formula 1
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