Skip to main content

What happened to the Renault Formula 1 team?

Can rebranding an F1 team improve its performance?

BWT Alpine Formula 1 race car.
BWT Alpine / BWT Alpine

From season to season, the ten Formula 1 racing teams often switch sponsors and suppliers and sometimes even change their names. Some fans have wondered why Renault has no F1 team, but the team is still there but rebranded. Since 2021, Renault has been using the Alpine brand name. Additionally, for the 2024 F1 season, due to sponsorship changes, the official name is BWT Alpine F1 Team. Read on for more about Renault’s team changes, the reasons behind the changes, and how the team has fared.

Why a Renault F1 team matters: History

Renault F1 team pit crew chagning tires.
16544962 / Pixabay

Renault has been part of Formula 1 racing since 1977, at various times as a constructor, engine supplier for other teams, and as an F1 racing team owner. Renault engines powered at least 160 Grand Prix winners during its history with the sport.

Recommended Videos

During those years, the Renault Group had organizational changes, some of which directly affected the F1 team. Renault fielded an F1 team from 1977 to 1985 when it left the sport at the end of the season. Renault supplied engines to Williams Racing and Benetton from 1989 to 1997.

In 2000, Renault took over Benetton Formula, the F1 team, which had continued to use Renault engines, and in 2002, it renamed itself the Renault team. In 2011, Renault sold its team interest, which it repurchased in 2016 when it again changed the team name to Renault.

Alpine – a dream brand

Blue 2024 Apline A110 sports coupe parked on light desert sand with dark mountains in the background.
Courtesy Alpine / Alpine

With a company-wide reorganization with a reported stronger focus on brands, Renault Group changed the F1 team name to Alpine (pronounced “Al-peen“) for the 2021 season to align the racing effort with the group’s Alpine racing-inspired sports car brand.

The switch came simultaneously when the FIA instituted F1 team budget caps so that Grand Prix racing wouldn’t devolve into competition measured by wallet size.

At the time, Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo said, “Alpine is a beautiful brand, powerful and vibrant, that brings a smile to the faces of its followers. By introducing Alpine, a symbol of French excellence, to the most prestigious of the world’s automotive disciplines, we are continuing the adventure of manufacturers in a renewed sport.”

BWT Alpine F1 Team

BWT Alpine Formula 1 race car sitting on a Grand Prix paddock drive.
Courtesy BWT Alpine F1 Team / BWT Alpine F1 Team

The BWT Alpine F1 Team introduced a new race car for 2024, the A524 Formula 1 car. This platform will be used for two seasons before the major changes in F1 cars starting with the 2026 season. Alpine also changed the team colors to combine the brand’s Alpine blue and title sponsor BWT’s pink.

Renault has not disappeared from Formula. The company uses a new name for its F1 team but expresses pride and confidence in its all-French drivers, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

When the A524 Formula 1 car was introduced before the 2024 season, Alpine F1 Team Director of Communications Mario Almeida wrote about the Renault Group’s commitment to Formula 1 as a key part of Renaultlution under the Alpine brand.

Almedia wrote, “Motorsport is the core of Alpine’s DNA, and the brand’s commitment to racing is highlighted in the fact that it is the most involved of any car company in FIA racing categories, with presence in Formula 1, World Endurance, open-wheel racing, and rallying.” 

Bruce Brown
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A Digital Trends Contributing Editor and Contributor for TheManual.com, Bruce Brown writes e-mobility reviews and covers…
Apply now to be a marshal at the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix
The Locals' Marshal Program involves residents in the excitement of the Grand Prix.
A track marshall waving a red flag at Las Vegas Grand Prix.

From now until June 1, you can apply for a position as a race marshal for the 2025 Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix. Applications for the Locals' Marshal Program are available for experienced marshals and for those who have no experience but are interested in the position.
Why the Locals' Marshal Program exists

This is the second year for the Locals' Marshal Program, the first for a U.S. F1 Grand Prix in 2024. The program, which is run with U.S. Race Management (USRM), successfully involved residents in roles in the Grand Prix. Other U.S. Grand Prix have since started similar programs.

Read more
Highly limited 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition based on new F1 movie
The limited edition model has design elements used by APXGP team in the movie F1
Actor Damson Idris in new movie F1 standing between F1 car and 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition.

Mercedes-AMG introduced a very special limited edition model during the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. The 2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 63 APXGP Edition incorporates components and design features of the fictional APXGP F1 team in the new F1 movie that will be released in June.
F1 the movie

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the Apple Original Film's movie was filmed at Formula 1 races worldwide during the previous two seasons, with appearances by real F1 drivers. The film stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris. characters.

Read more
F1 Miami Grand Prix 2025 preview: bright livery and hot competition
McLaren looks to hold onto the top positions in the 2025 Miami Grand Prix
The first Gordon Ramsay F1 Garage in 2025 with be at the Miami Grand Prix

Formula 1 is in Miami for the sixth race of the 2025 F1 Grand Prix schedule. The Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix is one of the six Sprint races of the year, with the shorter Sprint race on Saturday, June 3 at noon E.T.  and the Grand Prix scheduled to start at 4:00 PM Sunday.
The Miami Grand Prix circuit

The 3.36-mile Miami International Autodrome is set up each year at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Running for 57 laps, the Grand Prix is 191.6 miles long. It's a street circuit, laid out around the stadium for the first time in 2022. There are three Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones to enhance passing opportunities, featuring three straights, 19 corners, and significant elevation changes.

Read more