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Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buy stake in Alpine F1 team with Michael B. Jordan after Wrexham success

jack baer

Staff writer

Mon, Jun 26, 2023, 5:20 p.m.·3 min read

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are expanding their overseas sports portfolio.

The actors-turned-sports owners, along with fellow actor Michael B. Jordan, are part of a group of investors that's purchased a $220 million stake in Formula 1's Alpine Team, according to Deadline. Formula 1 has announced Reynolds' involvement.

Reynolds, McElhenney and Jordan are reportedly making an investment through Reynolds' Maximum Effort Investments, which will co-own a 24% stake in the F1 team alongside Otro Capital and RedBird Capital. The majority of the team, now valued at roughly $917 million, will still be held by the French car company Renault.

This obviously won't be Reynolds' and McElhenney's first foray into sports, as the two purchased the Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC in 2020. Hulu subscribers might be familiar with what happened next, as the streaming show "Welcome to Wrexham" documented the pair's experience steering a small club from fifth-tier mediocrity to contention for promotion.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 29: (L-R) Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds attend the FYC red carpet for FX's — Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are getting involved in Formula 1. (Photo by Leon Bennett/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

Wrexham fell one spot short of promotion in its first season under Reynolds and McElhenney, but it secured the move to fourth-tier EFL League Two with a league championship in its second season earlier this year. It was a dominant showing in the National League for Wrexham, which led the league in spending and posted a record 111 points by going 34-9-3.

Reynolds is making this move after previously attempting to buy a stake in the NHL's Ottawa Senators, which were sold earlier this month for nearly $1 billion.

Jordan also has experience with British soccer, as he owns a stake in the Premier League club Bournemouth.

What is Alpine F1 Team?

Owning an F1 team will obviously be a very different animal than owning a soccer club, be it first-tier or fifth-tier.

With Alpine, the trio of actors are buying into a team that has reached the top of the mountain, winning F1 titles in 2005 and 2006, but has settled into the middle of the table in recent years, which also saw it rebrand from Renault to Alpine.

Alpine hasn't finished outside of fourth to sixth place in the F1 Constructors' Championship since 2016, while cycling through a group of drivers that has included Fernando Alonso (who won the Drivers' Championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006), Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Jolyon Palmer in that span of time. Its history goes back to 1977, with Renault seeing additional success as an engine supplier.

Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, Spain, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort) — Alpine has some very famous new names in its ownership group. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

There was also some bizarre drama with Alpine last year, when it announced Oscar Piastri would be one of its drivers in 2023. Piastri very publicly begged to differ.

The team ended up featuring Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly as its current drivers. The pair are currently back-to-back in the drivers standings, with Ocon (29 points) in eighth and Gasly (15 points) in ninth, while Alpine sits fifth in the constructors standings. Ocon is responsible for the team's only podium this season with a third-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.