F1 Team Factfile: Alpine

Alpine F1 Team is a new entry competing in the 2021 Formula One season. The rebranded Renault F1 Team have hired the services of two-time champion Fernando Alonso as well as the high-potential talent Esteban Ocon to help fire up the team’s success.

Alpine F1 Team

Debuting in the sport this season is the Alpine Formula One team. This team was formerly known as Renault which was rebranded at the end of the 2020 season and became Alpine.

The Renault F1 Team (which has previously been known as Benetton and Lotus) is rich in history and has had many successful years in the sport as well as having some incredibly talented drivers taming the Renault machinery.

The team has accumulated a staggering 12 Constructors’ Championships as well as achieving 11 Drivers’ Titles over the course of 44 years in the sport.

This year, Alpine are running a stunning livery that mirrors the colours of the French tricolour flag with hints of black for added details including the rear wing and the endplates of the front wing.

Fernando Alonso

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The two-time World Champion makes his return to the Formula One paddock after leaving the series in 2018. The 39-year-old Spaniard has so far clocked up 39 race wins and 97 podiums over his F1 career, spanning nearly two decades and will hope to hit the 2000 career points milestone this year.

Alonso will have good memories of driving a Renault powered car in Formula One, which is what he drove to claim his back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

Away from F1, the Spaniard is chasing motorsport’s ‘triple crown,’ which is an unofficial achievement for winning three of the most prestigious races in motorsport – the Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans 24 Hour and the infamous Monaco Grand Prix.

In 2018 and 2019, Alonso won the Le Mans 24 Hour race with Toyota, as well as the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing. He also competed in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 but was forced to retire from the race due to a mechanical fault.

Esteban Ocon

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Ocon is entering his fourth full season in the sport. He made his debut at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2016 for the Manor Racing Team, where he replaced Rio Haryanto who was dropped from the team.

The Frenchman drove for Force India (which became the Racing Point team in August 2018) for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, with regular points finishes over his two years with the team.

At the end of the 2018 season, it was announced that Ocon would serve as Mercedes’ test driver in 2019 and was without a seat on the grid that year, as he was replaced by Racing Point’s team owner, Lawrence Stroll’s son, Lance.

The 24-year-old returned to the grid full-time in 2020, where he joined the Renault team alongside the experienced Daniel Ricciardo, replacing Nico Hulkenberg.

Ocon achieved his maiden Formula One podium and a career-best finish of second place at the action-packed Sakhir Grand Prix in December, sharing the podium with first-time winner and former teammate Sergio Perez and his Racing Point replacement Lance Stroll.

Prediction for the season

On the whole for Alpine this season, the team will have a strong debut year, they will be regularly competing towards the front of the midfield battles and will score consistent points and could potentially claim a podium finish.

In the overall Constructors’ Championship, the French-based team will finish sixth, ahead of AlphaTauri, Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas but will be narrowly be pipped to fifth by Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso could be a surprise in 2021 and he could struggle to score consistent points finishes. The two-year break from the sport as well as his interrupted pre-season training schedule due to a cycling accident could play a part in him not being as strong as people would expect.

In the Drivers’ Standings, the Spaniard will finish in and around the back of the midfield as he slowly gets back to grips with the sport once more.

As for Esteban Ocon, he may have a similar year to 2020 by finishing in the points in most races. If Alpine were to achieve a podium finish, it would come through the Frenchman as he will have more experience of driving a more modernised F1 car than his teammate.

Ocon will be in and around the top 10 in the Drivers’ Championship, scoring regular points throughout the season, battling at the summit of the midfield pack with Stroll and Lando Norris.

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