Alphine : The History of F1's Newest Team

Alpine was founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, a young man with a passion for motorsport whose favorite playground – the Alps – inspired the name of his brand. 

Jean Rédélé was the first-born son of Madeleine Prieur and Emile Rédélé, a Renault dealer based in Dieppe and a former mechanic of Ferenc Szisz – the first Renault Frères ‘factory driver’, winner of the Grand Prix de la Sarthe in 1906 at Le Mans and runner-up in the Grand Prix de l’A.C.F. in Dieppe in 1907.

The company took off as soon as the original A110 appeared in 1962. The production of the A110 made continuous progression. Also, the victories in rallies were piling up, the success of its prototypes at Le Mans made Alpine famous (‘The world’s fastest litre of petrol’) and Henri Grandsire, French F3 Champion in an Alpine, starred as cartoon character Michel Vaillant on television behind the wheel of Alpine-Vaillants.

A110 was built around a backbone chassis to which its mechanicals were bolted and it featured an incredibly lightweight body. At launch, the A110 was powered by a 1,108cc engine, but later grew to 1,255cc, then 1,565cc, 1,605cc and, finally, 1,647cc. From 1967, all cars produced by Alpine would bear the name Alpine-Renault.

Alpine and Renault worked closely together since the Alpine was sold and serviced by Renault dealerships. In the early 1970s, Alpine was one of the rallying elite. In 1971, Alpine monopolised the podium of the famous Monte Carlo Rally before winning it again in 1973, the year in which it became the first manufacturer to be crowned World Rally Champion.

After that, Alpine became a sporting brand. It has racing in its blood and all of its cars are a testament to both of the design and performance. Alpine was also victorious in prototypes in the world’s greatest endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the star event for sports car racing. 

This year, Alpine's motorsport programme will gain momentum with the brand's arrival in the Formula 1 World Championship under the name Alpine F1 Team, not forgetting the move up to the premier class (LMP1) of the FIA WEC Endurance World Championship, under the name Elf Matmut Alpine Endurance Team.