Formula 1 Hot News

Alpine F1 (formerly Renault) reveals interim livery

Posted by AR1 staff

Alpine announced today its plans for long-term growth as Groupe Renault’s brand dedicated to innovative, authentic and exclusive sports cars.

Current activities of Alpine cars, Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing will be united as one entity under the Alpine brand. Alpine will bring together the credibility of an authentic brand, specialized manufacturing, engineering mastery with considerable media exposure from Formula One. Together, they set the foundations to truly create market value around Alpine and take it to a different league.

The newly created Alpine entity will be a “new generation” automotive Brand for discerning, passionate early-adopters.

Its interim car has a simple black livery with the French tricolor at the rear of the engine cover.

Antony Villain, Alpine’s design director, called the interim livery “the first evocation of the Alpine F1 team’s new identity”.

“Some of the structural graphic elements will remain on the racing livery while others will change,” he said. “Numerous variations on all the motorsport assets are still to come.”

Alpine is arguably the epitome of French motoring, building on remarkable victories throughout its history. It is a brand with heritage and pedigree. It is also a factory with highly skilled specialists manufacturing the A110 in Dieppe.

Renault Sport Cars comprises a team of 300 people who are masters at developing sports cars. They gave Groupe Renault iconic products such as the R5 Turbo, Clio V6, Megane RS Trophy and the new Alpine A110.

Renault Sport Racing, with its eponymous F1 team, gathers 1,200 people who develop the “grand complication watches of motorsport” with some of the best aerodynamicists, mechanics and powertrain engineers. F1 is also a huge marketing platform with half a billion fans worldwide, thus representing a unique opportunity to enhance Alpine’s branding globally.

Alpine will also leverage the scale and capabilities of Groupe Renault and the RNM Alliance including technology with the Alliance EV-native platform, a global manufacturing footprint, a powerful purchasing arm ensuring optimum cost competitiveness, a global distribution network and RCI Bank & Services. The clear objective is to be profitable in 2025 including investment in motorsport.

Alpine was founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, a young man passionate about competition. He named his company after his favorite playground for racing: the Alps.

When the original A110 road car was introduced in 1962, the company began to take off. By then, Alpine and Renault were close collaborators, Alpine cars being sold and serviced by Renault dealerships. By the early Seventies Alpine was a major force in top-flight rally competition. In 1971 Alpine took the three steps on the podium of the world-famous Rallye Monte Carlo for the first time, then again in 1973. The company went on to win the World Rally Championship Manufacturers’ title later that year.

At the same time Alpine’s road car sales were growing. Alpine built a dedicated factory in Dieppe in 1969 – the same site that produces the all-new A110 today – and in 1971 the A310 entered production. Two years later, Alpine was acquired by Groupe Renault.

Alpine achieved its most famous motorsport triumph in 1978; overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The factory continued to release new and innovative road cars throughout the Seventies and Eighties, including the A310 V6 and the GTA. Alpine production would eventually cease in 1995.