Ryan Reynolds' F1 team rocked by 7 disasters after staff quit and driver 'got attacked'

Alpine are in the pits at the moment. The F1 team has effectively been brought to its knees via a tornado of problems over the past year or so, despite a glut of celebrities, including Ryan Reynolds and Hollywood sidekick Rob McElhenney, investing hundreds of millions into the group in 2023.

Poor performances, infighting, staff departures and car problems have hampered Alpine all season, and they're now fighting to avoid becoming the constructor with the fewest points having amassed just two so far this season

On Monday, Esteban Ocon announced he'd be leaving the team at the end of the campaign, and with that in mind, Express Sport has decided to run through seven disasters that have crippled them in recent months.

Ocon departure

The Frenchman's exit was announced on Monday morning and is understood to have been a mutual one, agreed to by both the driver and the team.

It comes after Ocon's controversial collision with Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix (we'll get to that later), where team principal Bruno Famin warned "there would be consequences".

Ocon joined Alpine in 2020 and won his maiden Grand Prix with the team in 2021, but struggled to kick on and claw his way up the grid. The 27-year-old is yet to announce where he'll be heading next but it's understood Haas is his most likely destination. Alpine will now need to look for a replacement for him.

Alpine civil war

Ocon and team-mate Gasly have known each other since childhood, but a falling out a few years ago turned them into enemies. When Gasly joined Alpine in 2023, their feud intensified and last month it cost the team dearly.

The pair clashed during the Monaco Grand Prix, with Ocon recklessly diving down the inside of his team-mate causing his rear tyre to catch Gasly's front one, flinging his car into the air.

The incident, which saw Ocon crash out of the race, infuriated Famin, who described Ocon's move as an "attack". He said: "It's sad to see this kind of incident. It's exactly what we don't want to see. Esteban's attack was totally out of circumstances."

Operations director sacked

A few days after the Monaco Grand Prix it emerged that long-term operations director Rob White had been given his marching orders.

White, who had spent two decades at Alpine and played an instrumental role in Renault's World Championship success with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006, was sacked with Alpine sitting ninth in the table, having scored just two points across the first eight races of the season.

Key resignations

Back in March, two Alpine chiefs suddenly quit amid the pre-season turmoil. Technical director Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer, the head of aerodynamics, handed in their resignations shortly before the launch of the team's new car, the A524, which both drivers were reportedly unhappy with.

It left the team with two gaping holes to fill just before the start of the new campaign, and a few days later, senior advisor Bob Bell joined the exodus.

Overweight car

As touched upon earlier, concerns about Alpine's car have plagued the team's campaign for months - chief among which is that it was too heavy. According to The Race, the A542 was as much as 11 kilograms over the 798kg minimum limit.

Their drivers recorded some of the slowest lap times of the season earlier on in the year. The issue was eventually sorted out in April but the car remains one of the slowest on the grid.

Sale rumours

Alpine were forced to deny reports the team was up for sale little over a month ago amid their disastrous start to the campaign. It was asserted that The Renault Group, which has a majority stake in the team, were so unhappy with Alpine's recent performances that they were eager to wash their hands of them. But those reports were later quashed.

"The rumours and stories about the team being for sale are false," a team spokesperson told Planet F1. "The team is categorically not for sale."

2023 sackings

In July 2023, team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane were let go from their respective positions along with chief technical officer Pat Fry. Laurent Rossi was also let go as CEO earlier in the year.

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan subsequently launched a scathing attack on Alpine, branding them "absolutely embarrassing".

"They got rid of Otmar prematurely, it was a mistake," Jordan said speaking on the Formula For Success podcast. "He was a talented person who knew how to keep that team in the right direction. At the moment they are the most floundering team, it is absolutely embarrassing. I find it embarrassing to watch [Pierre] Gasly and [Esteban] Ocon who are capable of winning races." 

Szafnauer, meanwhile, has continued to fire salty remarks Alpine's way since his acrimonious exit.