Renault Blocks Alpine Stake Sale After Otro Failure

Renault has slowed the sale of Otro Capital’s 24% stake in Alpine after CEO François Provost said the partnership “was not successful” and made clear the carmaker will only approve a replacement investor that fits its goals without taking control of the Formula 1 team.

Speaking to The Race during the British Grand Prix weekend, Provost said Otro never contributed to Alpine’s day-to-day running despite holding a significant minority share. “We manage the team. Otro has no right, and no added value, to help us to operate. So we are fully responsible. We are doing the job. The partnership with Otro was not successful,” he said.

Otro is trying to exit its holding, but Renault retains a veto over any ownership change until September. Provost said that gives Renault time to wait for the right buyer rather than force a quick deal. “They need our agreement to sell, and we'll do this maybe sooner or later, but from an operation standpoint, [there is] no impact, and this is for me the most important,” he said.

That has already affected the process. Mercedes was among the interested parties, along with a new investment group led by former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, but talks with Mercedes broke down in May after the sides failed to agree on Alpine’s valuation. Renault then paused progress on any sale.

The current ownership structure dates back to 2023, when Alpine sold 24% of the team for €200 million to RedBird Capital Partners, Otro Capital and Maximum Effort Investments. The deal was promoted on the promise of commercial upside from investors including Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan, but Provost’s comments leave little doubt about Renault’s view of what it delivered in practice.

Provost said Renault remains committed to F1 and set out two conditions for any future minority shareholder. “The first one is Renault will keep the control. We do not intend to sell shares,” he said. The second is that any new investor must share a “common goal” and “common interest” with the manufacturer, which is why, he added, he is “not in a hurry.”

That caution is tied to a wider reset at Alpine. Provost said Renault’s priority is to rebuild a team destabilized in recent years, with the focus on establishing stronger foundations rather than chasing a rushed ownership solution. After finishing last in the 2025 constructors’ championship, Alpine was fifth after the British Grand Prix, making the search for a better-aligned partner part of Renault’s bigger effort to restore the team’s competitiveness while keeping firm control of its direction.