Don’t expect a docu-series with Reynolds and McElhenney investing in the Alps
Lawrence Edmundson talks about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhinney’s investment in Alpine.
SPIELBERG, Austria – Esteban Ocon believes a $218 million investment in Alpine by a group of investors including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds could help the team become a regular Formula 1 team.
Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners have taken a 24% stake in the Renault-owned F1 team, valuing it at around $900m.
Deadpool star Reynolds and Rob McElhinney have catapulted English football club Wrexham into the global spotlight since taking over in November 2020, thanks in part to the Disney+ documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham”.
Ocon, who took his maiden Alpine race win at the Hungarian Grand Prix and scored a podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, has already made plans to visit Reynolds on the set of the upcoming “Deadpool” movie.
“I think it’s great,” Ocon said of the famous co-stars in the investment.
“I was very lucky to be able to chat on Tuesday with Ryan. We exchanged a few WhatsApps together. He told me I had obviously been invited on set in London for Deadpool, so I would definitely go.
“He’s a very inspiring person at what he does, also outside of his acting world, he’s a very talented entrepreneur as well.”
Ocon is hopeful that Reynolds’ success with Wrexham and in other businesses will lead to the Alpine team losing out.
“I think everything Ryan’s done lately, his company has been very successful. There haven’t been any failures that I know of. I think he’s a very good resource, he and his team are behind our team.”
Ocon said the investment demonstrated Alpine’s seriousness in its ambitions to reach the top of Formula 1.
“We know where we want to take the team, we want to take the team there, to fight for the podium, for the wins, as soon as possible,” he said.
When Renault renamed its F1 team Alpine in 2021, it set itself a four-year plan to become champions.
Although Okon won in Hungary that year, the team struggled to progress from midfield at the time.
Speaking after the investment was confirmed this week, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said Aston Martin’s shift from seventh last year to a regular podium contender in 2023 has given his team the reality check it needs to act quickly.
When asked how long he thinks it will take Alpine to follow a similar path to Aston Martin, Ocon replied: “Asap! I’m not here to waste time.
“When we were third in Monaco, we didn’t let Ferrari pass because we thought they were ahead of us. We want to fight for those positions as quickly as possible.”