F1: Aston Martin's Formula 1 Success a 'Reality Check' for Alpine, Says CEO Laurent Rossi

According to Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, Aston Martin's startling rise up the grid to regular podium contenders this season has served as a wake-up call for other teams and Formula One as a whole. The Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll's Silverstone-based team finished the previous season in seventh place overall, but they are currently third after briefly holding the second spot, trailing only Red Bull and Mercedes. With two second-place finishes, Fernando Alonso, a 41-year-old double world champion who switched from Renault-owned Alpine to Aston Martin at the conclusion of last year, has landed on the podium six times in eight races. The Spaniard is the best of the rest, trailing Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Sergio Perez in the drivers' rankings. French duo Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are ninth and tenth overall, while Alpine, who placed fourth overall last year and intended to narrow the gap in the top three, is fifth.

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F1: Laurent Rossi's Comment on Aston Martin's Rise

Following a strategy presentation at Alpine's Enstone facility, Rossi addressed reporters saying, "I think it was a reality check for Mercedes, Ferrari, us. For everyone. For the whole sport. We were comfortable thinking we were on the rise, and everyone else was, and suddenly there’s a guy leapfrogging all of us."

Aston Martin has hired important technical staff from Red Bull, including technical director Dan Fallows, and engine suppliers Mercedes, but Rossi claimed they have also challenged the accepted norm. "It’s an industry that has been doing more or less the same thing for so long that it has become a norm that it takes that much time to get there," said the Frenchman. "It’s true for everything, for road cars. They (Aston) have changed a couple of things, faster, differently, they took a bit more risk and it paid off," he remarked. 

Rossi argued that Alpine should aim to imitate it by putting updated parts on the vehicle more quickly, taking greater chances, and utilising their strength as a works team. Alpine started a 100-race strategy last year, which is comparable to four or five years, to get to the point where they could compete for championships. He further went on to say, "People start scratching their heads a bit more thinking that maybe we’re being a bit too conservative here, maybe we’re doing too many validations, maybe we can shorten the process here and there. You realise that over time you’ve built so many of those extra cautious steps because you address the problem one day and say to yourself 'OK, next time we do this all the time. Now you look at it and with hindsight perhaps this is not necessary anymore. So we are revisiting a lot of things."

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Ryan Reynolds and Other Investors Acquire 24% of Alpine Racing

Ryan Reynolds and a group of US-based investors now own a 24 per cent equity ownership stake in Renault's Alpine F1 squad. The consortium also includes Bournemouth Football Club co-owner Michael B. Jordan, Otro Capital, and RedBird Capital Partners in addition to Wrexham Football Club owners Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. With an investment of $218 million from the investor group, Alpine will be able to improve the existing F1 race vehicle mechanically and technically. 

The investment group has reportedly invested $218 million, which will support Alpine's lofty goal of finishing in the top three, according to the F1 website. The French team, that came in fourth place the year before, is now stuck in fifth. According to a statement made by Alpine on its official website, this purchase valued the Alpine F1 team at over $900 million following the investment.