Report: Major shareholder in talks to sell Alpine F1 stake 

Just two years ago, Otro led a consortium that invested $220 million into Alpine in exchange for a slice of the action. At the time, the presence of celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney attracted headlines, and the deal allowed the team to regain a stable financial footing.

However, Alpine has continued to struggle on track. This season, the Enstone team remains rooted firmly to the back of the grid. In fact, it’s likely that its three drivers this year, Pierre Gasly, Jack Doohan, and Franco Colapinto, will finish 19th-21st in the drivers’ standings.

With F1’s wider popularity soaring, now seems like the perfect time for Otro to sell. Given that the team was valued at $900 million at purchase and someone tried to buy VCARB for $2.3 billion last year, they stand to make a tidy profit. But how close is the deal, and what could it mean for Alpine?

It’s important to point out that Otro’s talks have only reached a preliminary stage. Renault has also publicly maintained that it wants to continue growing the Alpine brand in the US, and its high-profile investment in 2023 has definitely boosted its profile stateside.

Alpine road car sales have more than doubled in the US over the first nine months of 2025. The problem seems to be that its parent company is no longer willing to throw huge bags of cash at winning motorsport's biggest prizes.

From next year, Renault will no longer manufacture Alpine’s F1 engines. Instead, it will become a Mercedes customer team. When you consider that Renault has been behind the curve on engine development pretty much since the start of the turbo-hybrid era, it looks like a solid deal sporting-wise. But it does come at a cost: a significant loss of face for Renault.

After two years of profitability, Alpine F1 also slipped back into the red in 2024, reporting a £14.6 million loss due to a decline in on-track performance. With all this in mind, it makes sense that Otro might consider selling. Either way, it doesn’t exactly scream of confidence in the wider project when you try to sell your stake so quickly after investing!

Amid its worst season in recent memory, the Enstone team just needs to get to the end of the year. Even Gasly, the team’s star turn and future prospect, has struggled to wring any pace whatsoever out of the A525. Fortunately they’ve managed to secure a new three-year contract with the Frenchman, but there are still big questions over its second seat.

Colapinto is the rumored favorite to retain his seat despite a lackluster second stint in F1, but names like Paul Aron and Jack Doohan remain in contention. Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner has also had his name mentioned. This could be especially pertinent given the timing of Otro’s sale discussions—although nothing has been agreed as of yet.

Under the chaotic reign of returning boss Flavio Briatore, it seems like anything is possible for the beleaguered Alpine F1 team. If Renault’s power unit turns out to be the main problem and Mercedes starts to dominate (as some predict) in 2026, the team could have a beastly engine on their hands, which powers them back into contention.

On the flipside, failure to bounce back would prove that its issues are deeper seated than a few extra horsepower down the straights. It’s all up for grabs next year. But it seems like Alpine is looking for a port in the storm, as they inch closer towards the relief of starting with a clean slate.