Otro owns a 24 percent stake in Alpine Racing, having joined RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments in a 200 million-euro ($329 million AUD) deal announced in 2023.
The investment group brought high-profile celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan into Alpine’s ownership structure, with the deal originally framed as a way to boost the team’s media, marketing and commercial reach.
But speaking to The Race at the British Grand Prix, Provost said the arrangement had failed to deliver meaningful benefit to Alpine’s day-to-day operation.
“We manage the team. Otro has no right, and no added value, to help us to operate. So we are fully responsible,” he said.
“We are doing the job. The partnership with Otro was not successful. I think we are capable to assess together this. They want to sell, they will get the good benefits.
“They need our agreement to sell, and we’ll do this maybe sooner or later, but from an operation standpoint [there is] no impact, and this is for me the most important.”
Click here to find out how.
Otro has been looking to sell its stake, with Mercedes and former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner among those linked to the shareholding.
Mercedes pulled out of talks in May after deciding the stake was overpriced, with Otro reportedly seeking $720 million USD ($1.03 billion AUD) for its 24 percent holding, valuing Alpine at around $3 billion USD ($4.3 billion AUD).
Renault has a veto over any sale until September and moved to halt discussions after Mercedes walked away, with Provost saying there is no pressure to rush into a new partnership.
“For me, there is no urgency. There are two principles. The first one is Renault will keep the control. We do not intend to sell shares,” he said.
“The second principle is, if ever Otro sells the shares, I want to be sure that with the new one [minority shareholder] we have some intimacy, common goal, and common interest.
“So it’s why I’m not in a hurry.”
Provost’s comments come during a period of major change for Alpine, which has switched to Mercedes customer power this season after Renault’s decision to shut down its works F1 engine program.
The team has also secured a major commercial boost, with Gucci set to become its title sponsor from 2027 in a deal that will see the squad race as Gucci Racing Alpine Formula 1 Team.
Alpine finished last in the constructors’ championship in 2025 but has made a stronger start to 2026, sitting fifth in the standings after the first nine rounds.
Provost, who became Renault CEO in July 2025 following Luca de Meo’s departure to Kering, said there was no question over Renault’s commitment to F1 despite the recent instability.
“F1 is by far the biggest sporting event, all categories included,” he said.
“You have more than 800 million followers, an additional 100 million a year, and a lot of young people everywhere in the world.
“So when we have the chance to be one of the veterans there, it is common sense that we need to stay and we need to recover the position I think we deserve.”
Provost said Alpine’s immediate focus was on restoring stability after several turbulent seasons, rather than chasing a rapid turnaround.
“We want to stay in F1,” he said.
“This for sure will not change the strategy. The issue now is to recover, because the [Alpine] team was destabilised. The performance was really bad.
“So it’s why I set as a unique first priority for the team to stabilise and set new strong foundations. This is our objective for this year.”
On the subject of a possible Renault engine revival in F1, Provost added that he supported F1’s planned move towards V8 engines by 2031 but said the manufacturer was not looking to revive its own engine program.
“I support the V8 direction, but it’s not because it could be an opportunity for Renault to come back as an engine manufacturer,” he said. “It’s not our strategy.
“We can never say never. Yeah. But again, my unique priority is short-term recovery, and strong foundation from this to set up a vision for the team, a new ambition. This is my unique priority, not to come back with an engine.”
Discussion about this post