Alpine shocked the entire F1 grid earlier this week after it secured the staggering $218,000,0000 investment by a consortium that included Hollywood star, Ryan Reynolds. Despite securing such a huge amount of funding, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi revealed why his team cannot use it to improve the fortunes of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
This is because Alpine will use this funding for their initiatives away from the track. As quoted by Planet F1, Rossi said, “They’re going to help us on the monetization side of the business. So, strictly speaking not on the sports side“.
BREAKING: Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds is part of an investor group taking a 24% equity stake in Alpine #F1 pic.twitter.com/0K2867UBOg
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 26, 2023
Even though the Alpine F1 team will not receive any benefit from this funding, Ocon still seeks inspiration from Reynolds, who along with Otro Capital, and RedBird Capital Partners, among others, have invested this huge sum of money for a 24% stake in Alpine.
Esteban Ocon explains the exchange he had with Ryan Reynolds
Soon after Ryan Reynolds led a consortium to buy a huge stake in Alpine, Esteban Ocon had a long conversation with the Hollywood actor. While speaking in an interview with Autosport, the Frenchman explained how he “was extremely lucky to be able to chat” with Ryan and exchange a few WhatsApp messages with him.
Ocon then revealed how excited he was to welcome Reynolds to the team and share the details about the simulator. After mentioning the initial exchanges they had, the 26-year-old fanboy also revealed the surprise invite he received from the Hollywood star.
“He told me I was invited to the set in London for the Deadpool movie. So I’m definitely going to be going,” revealed Ocon. The Alpine driver then added that he is extremely excited about the same as he is a “massive comics and Marvel fan“.
After expressing his delight on receiving the invite from Reynolds, Ocon explained what he finds inspiring about the 46-year-old. “He’s just someone that is very inspiring in what he does. Outside his actor world, I think he’s an extremely talented businessman as well,” explained Ocon.
Reynolds’ investment in Alpine brings a lot of promise for the team’s future success
Similarly to Esteban Ocon, Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly was also all praises for Ryan Reynolds. As quoted by express.co.uk, Gasly said that he is “super excited” to meet Reynolds, who is undoubtedly one of his “favorite actors“.
As for Reynolds and his investment consortium, they have big plans for Alpine. They hope that with their investment, the Enstone-based team can fight their way back to the front of the field. While Reynolds is a renowned actor, he is now also a successful investor, having invested in several fantastic projects.
The 46-year-old and his consortium also have investments in NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and Welsh soccer club Wrexham FC, among others. Since Reynolds has a track record of making successful investments, his purchase of stakes in a team like Alpine will undoubtedly bring a huge amount of hope for the French team’s success.
