RacingAlpine has swapped the Renault executive overseeing its finances on the F1 team board for the Renault executive who handles deals, just as interest builds around a minority stake in the Enstone-based operation. Renault chief financial officer Duncan Minto has left Alpine F1’s board, and Guillaume Rosso, Renault Group’s global head of mergers and acquisitions, officially took up the role on April 7.
That change lands at a busy moment for Alpine, Renault, and the investors already inside the team. Otro Capital is exploring options for its 24% stake, according to the source material, and that holding has been tied to offers that would value the team well above what Otro paid in 2023. Rosso’s arrival does not amount to proof that Renault is preparing a full sale. The source material says there is no factual basis for that, and Renault continues to present Alpine as part of its brand strategy in Formula 1.
What Rosso’s appointment does show is where Renault wants extra oversight. He joined Renault Group last October as head of mergers and acquisitions and also serves as managing director of Alliance Ventures, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi venture platform. Alpine had already been moving in this direction. According to the source material, Renault has been progressively opening the team’s capital to outside investors since 2023 while also structuring Alpine more clearly as an autonomous economic entity.
Renault still holds control. The source material says the group remains Alpine’s majority shareholder and keeps review and approval rights over any sale of minority equity. So even with outside money involved, Renault stays in charge of who comes in and on what terms. According to the source material, that matters because Renault’s focus is not only price. It is also looking at whether any incoming shareholder fits Alpine’s long-term direction.
The numbers around Otro explain why attention has sharpened. Otro bought its 24% stake in 2023 for about $215 million, according to the source material. That same material says the stake is now estimated at more than $620 million, based on a reported team valuation as high as $2.6 billion. At the same time, Otro is not free to move whenever it wants. The source material says the firm is subject to a lock-up period and cannot freely transfer its stake before September 2026.
Even so, possible buyers are already being discussed. Flavio Briatore confirmed Mercedes-Benz AG is among the interested parties, according to the source material. Briatore said the offer would be $500 million, subject to financing, which would value the organization at $2.1 billion, according to the source material. Several well-informed sources also identified U.S. billionaire Steve Cohen as another interested party.
All of this sits inside a wider reset at Alpine. The team has gone through multiple reorganizations in recent seasons, according to the source material, and it will become an engine customer from 2026. In that setting, replacing Minto with Rosso looks less like a signal that Renault is stepping away and more like a move to tighten corporate and transactional control while investor interest around Alpine keeps rising.