Hollywood Actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney Enter Formula One

The booming world of Formula 1 has always been as much about the glamour and the star power as the technology and the racing.

That star power now includes Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and Michael B. Jordan.

Renault, the parent company of Alpine Racing, announced on June 26 that the American trio is part of Maximum Effort Investments and will join Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners in an investor group that will take a 24 percent equity stake in Alpine Racing.

The deal is worth $218.10 million, according to Reuters, and it increases the value of the United Kingdom-based Formula 1 team to around $900 million.

“Deadpool” star Reynolds joins McElhenney from the comedy series, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and fellow actor Jordan as investors at Maximum Effort Investments.

Renault said the investors have an extensive background in the sports industry, working with the Dallas Cowboys, Fenway Sports Group, the NFL, and French soccer clubs, Toulouse and Wrexham.

Alpine Racing features drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon and is currently fifth in the constructor’s championship. The team was fourth in the constructors’ championship last year but trails behind in its goal to close in on Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes in 2023.

It is part of an ambitious program at Alpine known as the “Mountain Climber” plan, with the goal of fighting for championships within the space of 100 races. That plan’s starting date began in 2022.

Renault also said Alpine Racing SAS, which manufactures the Formula 1 engines in Viry-Chatillon, France, is not part of the transaction and will remain wholly owned by Renault Group.

“The transaction values Alpine Racing Ltd. around $900 million following this investment,” the team said in a statement. “It will accelerate Alpine’s growth plans and sporting ambitions in F1.”

Reynolds and McElhenney completed a $2.5 million takeover of Wrexham, a soccer team from Wales, in November 2020. Because of the ownership group’s “A-List” status, it helped promote the team to the fourth tier of English soccer in 2023 after it was the fifth-tier champion in April of this past season.

Their popular Disney+ docu-series “Welcome to Wrexham” has proved a big hit in North America, propelling the little-known club into the global spotlight.

Renault said Otro and RedBird’s investment included the participation of the Huntsman Family and Main Street Advisors.

Alec Scheiner, the co-founder, and partner of Otro Capital, will join Alpine Racing’s board of directors.

According to Renault, Otro and RedBird’s investment includes the Huntsman Family and Main Street Advisors. RedBird is a United States firm that is run by former Goldman Sachs banker Gerry Cardinale. It is also an investor in Fenway Sports Group, the owner of Liverpool in the Premier
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League and the Boston Red Sox of the American League in Major League Baseball.

RedBird has a controlling interest in French Club Toulouse and purchased Italy’s AC Milan in August 2022 in a deal worth €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion), which also involved the Steinbrenner Family, owners of the New York Yankees baseball team.

The Alpine Racing Formula 1 team is based in Enstone in central England. Alpine won the Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championships in 2005 and 2006 as Renault’s factory team and also as Benetton in 1995.

“This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels,” Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said. “Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, as international players with strong track record in the sports industry, will bring their recognized expertise to boost our media and marketing strategy, essential to support our sporting performance over the long term.

“The incremental revenue generated will in turn be reinvested in the team, in order to further accelerate our Mountain Climber plan, aimed at catching up with top teams in terms of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.”

Before the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the world in 2020, Formula 1 was an acquired taste in the United States. There was a group of diehards — loyal fans who would set their alarms and watch F1 races at sunrise, but as far as mass appeal, it remained a niche sport.

But with the world locked down and shut in, people needed entertainment and discovered a docuseries on Netflix
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known as “Drive to Survive.”

Viewers couldn’t get enough of the behind-the-scenes action and storylines delivered on “Drive to Survive.” Fans who couldn’t spell “F1” before 2020, were suddenly Formula 1 experts.

As COVID restrictions eased and the world reopened, the biggest boom in interest in the Formula 1 World Championship was in the United States.

This year, there will be three Formula 1 grand prix in the United States. In May, F1 was at Miami. F1 returns to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) October 20-22.

A spectacle of gigantic proportions will take over The Strip in Las Vegas for the Heineken Las Vegas GP November 17-19.

The Monaco Grand Prix, F1s most historic and important event had 1.52 million viewers in its live coverage on ABC. The Indy 500 had three times that number of viewers, although it should be noted that the Formula O 1 telecast began at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. The Indianapolis 500 telecast began at 11 a.m. ET with the green flag at 12:47 p.m. ET.

Last month’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix had 1.96 million viewers on ABC. That was down 25 percent from 2022.

This year’s Indy 500 had 2.5 times the number of viewers.

But Formula 1 remains the sport of the “Rich and Famous” and the addition of such Hollywood names as Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenny and Michael B. Jordan further strengthens the connection between F1 and the celebrity world.