Alpine Racing Limited (), currently racing as BWT Alpine Formula One 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 continued to serve as Renault's works team, a position the team kept until Renault pulled out of Formula One (as an engine manufacturer) at the end of 2025.
The team uses Mercedes engines, having previously done so as Lotus in 2015. The team is based in Enstone, Oxfordshire, England and competes with a French licence. The team fields Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto as its full-time drivers. In its current form as Alpine, the team's sole win was achieved by Esteban Ocon at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, and its first pole position was achieved by Gasly at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix.
Contents
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.
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 Circuit 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 became known as the "Alpine F1 Team" whilst retiring the "Renault F1 Team" moniker after five years.
Ownership
In June 2023, Renault Group sold a 24% stake in Alpine Racing Ltd to a consortium led by Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments for €200 million. Additional minority investors joined the group later in 2023, including NFL players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, golfer Rory McIlroy, footballers Trent Alexander-Arnold and Juan Mata, and former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.
In 2025, Renault further adjusted Alpine Racing Ltd's ownership structure by selling an additional minority stake to new financial partners, reducing its shareholding to approximately 60%. The expanded investor group built on the earlier 2023 transaction and was intended to strengthen Alpine's commercial growth strategy and increase long-term Formula One investment capacity. In 2026, it was reported that Otro Capital was looking to sell its stake in Alpine.
Racing history
Rebranded Renault works team (2021–2025)
For 2021 Alpine signed two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso to replace an outgoing Daniel Ricciardo. This would mark Alonso's third spell driving for Team Enstone having driven for them from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2009 and won two drivers championships with the team in 2005 and 2006 when the team used the Renault name. Esteban Ocon was retained from the 2020 Renault team. The Alpine car used 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 for a French team since Olivier Panis' triumph at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix driving for the Ligier team as well as 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.
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.
Mercedes customer team (2026–present)
On 30 September 2024, owing to lack of strong results with its power unit during the V6 turbo-hybrid era since it began in 2014, Renault announced it would be ending its engine programme following the conclusion of the 2025 championship and would not be making engines for the new 2026 regulations. This means Alpine lost its status as a works team and become a customer team of Mercedes, whilst still being majority owned by Groupe Renault. Alpine utilised Mercedes engines and gearboxes from the 2026 season onwards.
For 2026, Alpine retained Gasly, with Colapinto being signed for a full-time drive. After just 3 races, the Mercedes gearbox helped both drivers gain points, thus being a bigger improvement than 2025 so far.
This includes numerous points finishes, a short-lived podium for Gasly in Monaco (taken away months later due to the reinstatement of two five-second penalties he earned), and a shock first career pole position for him and his team at Monza. All of this has culminated in the squad currently sitting in a respectable P6 in the Constructors’ Championship, only one place off the “best of the rest” bragging rights.
On 27 May 2026, it was announced that Gucci would replace BWT as the title sponsor of the team from 2027 onwards, competing as Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One Team.
Complete Formula One results
Notes
* – Season still in progress.
‡ – Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
Esports
Esports Drivers' Champions
The following drivers won the Formula One Esports Drivers' Championship for Alpine Sim Racing
Otis Lawrence (2026)
Esports results
Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap (key).