The Alpine Formula 1 team has revealed a substantial profit for its 2022 operations, aided by the arrival of title sponsor BWT and a fourth-place finish in the championship.
As reported by Autosport, Alpine saw a sizeable increase in profits from 2021 to 2022, going from £201,485,000 to £249,038,000.
“While operations have been impacted by inflation a second year of financial regulations coupled with a disciplined approach to cost control has led to an improvement in operating margin of 37%, resulting in an operating profit of £36.6m,” the team revealed in a statement to Autosport.
This 23.6% increase in profits was balanced against a 21.6% increase in overall spending by the Anglo/French team.
The operating profit of £33.6m was a near £10m more than Alpine managed in 2021, however, the team’s post-tax profit for 2022 of £26.2m actually represented a drop of £2.9m on the previous year.
Alpine’s continuing profitable operation results from a balanced approach to F1 investment amidst the cost-cap era of the sport, which began in 2021.
It would appear that Alpine is coming from a position of strength in a business sense whereas the team has endured a period of uncertainty in a sporting sense.
In 2023, Alpine saw the departure of several key technical personnel, including Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, long-time Sporting Director Alan Permane and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry.
The mass exodus of high-profile staff led to members of the F1 paddock calling for the Renault Group to sell the team, such as Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who suggested Alpine be sold to Michael Andretti.
Talks of a sale were rebuffed by Renault Group CEO Luca De Meo, who has categorically ruled out letting go of Alpine’s F1 team.
As well as this, Alpine sold a 24% stake to a trio of investors, including Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, to the tune of €200m, valuing the team at over €800m – and the team intends to spend the new investment on maximise revenue via merchandising, sponsorship and hospitality.
Alpine’s ascension to become a winning F1 outfit out on track is still shrouded in uncertainty, but its newfound investment and profitable outcome from 2022 give it cause for optimism moving forward.
Perhaps they should have spent it, and then maybe they’d have finished within sight of the leaders occasionally.