Alpine Seal $212 Million Sale With American Company to Help Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon

Over the last few weeks, rumors about Alpine selling their shares to an American company grew stronger and recent reports suggest that a bumper deal has gone through. AutoNation, which is a company based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has bought 25% of Alpine’s share. The French company went ahead with this sale to help their F1 team and drivers- Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon- grow.

A snippet of a report showcasing the details behind the sale was posted earlier this week on Reddit. Alpine had agreed to sell 25% of its shares to an American investor (AutoNation), which could rise to 40%. Talking about figures, the sale was worth a whopping $212 million. With his partnership, Alpine is now valued at $850 million.

The cash injection brought into the company will help them grow in F1, and other forms of racing ventures they compete in. It will also make sure that they don’t get too heavily reliant on Renault, for money to drive the team’s development.

AutoNation to sponsor Alpine at Miami GP

F1 is traveling to Miami for its first out of three American races on the calendar. Ahead of the Miami GP, AutoNation announced that they were entering into a partnership with Alpine, that would see them sponsor the team for the second-ever race in the Miami International Autodrome.

Alpine is planning the penetrate the US market as they begin sales in America later this year. This partnership with AutoNation is aimed at awareness among the general public, which they will carry out in the form of several events leading up to the Grand Prix. In one of their events at the Concours Club at the Miami International Autodrome, fans will get an opportunity to try out the A110 sports car.

Alpine’s CEO Laurent Rossi recognizes the role AutoNation played in other racing ventures such as the NTT IndyCar series. “This makes for a fantastic partnership in one of the most exciting markets in the world,” Rossi said as quoted by Cision.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon hoping to bounce back in Miami

The last outings for Gasly and Ocon have been woeful to say the least. In Australia, Alpine showed great pace and both drivers were on course to achieving a points finish but they ended up crashing into each other after the final restart.

Gasly and Ocon wanted to put this frustration behind them, and take the three-week break to regroup for the Azerbaijan GP. This time, however, Alpine’s reliability issues affected their weekend, with Gasly and Ocon finishing P14 and P15 respectively.

Alpine don’t have a lot of time to regroup as the Miami GP takes place next Sunday, and they need to sort their problems out. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, in particular, will be hoping to bounce back and get their season back on track after two point-less weekends.