Renault's rebranded F1 venture Alpine has teased its new livery and also revealed its launch date for its 2021 pretender the A521 at an event called "Renaulution".
The new livery which is currently not finalised pays homage to the 1975 A500 F1 prototype that Alpine had created. A500 is a reference to the F1 project and 21 is the nomenclature for 2021. The new colours are predominately black with a red, white and blue base.
"The livery presented today is the first evocation of the Alpine F1 team's new identity," said Alpine design director Antony Villain.
The new livery is not finalised yet
"Some of the structural graphic elements will remain on the racing livery while others will change. The 'oversized' Alpine emblem in a tricolour graphics system is the first clear-cut symbol of the brand's identity in motorsport. The blue, white and red refer to the colours of the French and British flags, which is very important to us. Numerous variations on all the motorsport assets are still to come," explained Villain.
This livery is in place unit the full launch of the car in February which will be driven by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Alonso who will be 40 this year returns to the team with which he won his two world titles in 2005 and 2006 when he dethroned Michael Schumacher's dominance at Ferrari, triggering his first retirement from the sport. Alonso replaces Daniel Ricciardo who achieved two podiums last year, Renault's first since re-entry in the sport.
This livery sets the tone for the new Alpine brand which also intends to sell sports cars
It also sets the tone for the new Alpine brand which takes inspiration from the Ferrari philosophy of creating a locked-in virtuous cycle of the success of the motorsports team fuelling the demand for a commercial sports car which in turn funds the F1 activity.
"The new Alpine entity takes three brands with separate assets and areas of excellence to turn them into an empowered, fully-fledged business," said newly-appointed Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi.
"The craftsmanship from our plant in Dieppe, the engineering mastery from our Formula One and Renault Sport teams will shine through our tech-infused, 100% electric line-up, taking the beautiful Alpine name to the future. We'll be on the tracks and on the roads, authentic and high-tech, disruptive and passionate, add Rossi who took over earlier this week with the sudden departure of Cyril Abiteboul.
Marcin Budkowski is expected to become the team principal of the team while ex-Suzuki MotoGP boss Davide Brivio is expected to take up the CEO role for Alpine F1.
