Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has revealed that the team’s new found investment will be spent off the track, rather than on it.
It was announced on Monday that the French manufacturer had received a €200 million investment including backing from Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds, Michael B. Jordan and Rob McElhenney.
The investment from Otro Capital, RedBird Capital and Maximum Effort Investments has boosted the brand’s value to around €800 million.
Speaking at Enstone, Rossi and Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo explained what the investment meant for the future of the company as a whole, but also offered an insight into the impact on its F1 programme.
In his address, Rossi clarified that the investment will not be used to progress Alpine in a sporting sense, stating that staff at Enstone and Viry-Châtillon “know what they’re doing.”
“They’re going to help us on the monetisation side of the business,” Rossi said.
“So strictly speaking not on the sports side. Obviously, people here [Enstone] know what they’re doing. People in Viry-Châtillon know what they’re doing. They’re going to continue doing what they’re doing.”
Instead, the newly raised funds will be used to aid Alpine’s off-track activities including hospitality, sponsorship and merchandise.
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Alpine F1 Team A523. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 9, Canadian Grand Prix, Sunday 18th June 2023. Montreal, Canada.
“[The investment is] going to help us boost our revenue,” Rossi continued.
“Hospitality, sponsoring, licensing, merchandising. Above and beyond what we have planned.
“A portion of that we will reinvest into facilities, into tools, into equipment. This is part of a plan that we already launched way before RedBird joined us, which we call Mountain Climber.
“We are hiring 80 people. So we’re going to simply boost this plan, accelerate it even further, in the limitations of the cost cap obviously. So this is how it’s going to help us indirectly continue on our path.”
Rossi previously voiced his frustration with Alpine’s F1 operation for an “amateurish” start to the 2023 season. The team has since claimed a podium in Monaco with Esteban Ocon, providing a much needed boost.
“The team is moving up,” Rossi added.
“Two years ago, we were a distant sixth really. We finished fourth this year. It’s a little bit complicated at the beginning of this season and it’s getting back into order, I hope we can just continue.
“We have a roadmap. It’s progress that you build one step at a time because it takes time to find the people, find the resources to complement our team because our team is slightly smaller than top teams.
“So we’re just going to continue growing, expanding up to a point where we have similar structures.
“The way of doing makes a difference and we believe our way of doing will make a difference because we have expertise here.”
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