All eyes on Alpine
In recent weeks within the F1 paddock, there has been much talk about the now ‘famous’ shares of the Otro Capital investment fund within the Alpine team. The private equity firm, based in New York, controls 24% of the Enstone team but seems particularly interested in selling its shares. Among the possible interested buyers, in addition to entrepreneur Steve Cohen (owner of the New York Mets baseball team), Christian Horner – looking for a grand return to the Circus after being shown the door by Red Bull – and Toto Wolff have emerged, who in his role as executive director of Mercedes in Formula 1 would like to be able to control shares of the team that from this year is powered by the Brixworth power unit.
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Business is business
The fact that interest in purchasing this 24% emerged for Horner before Mercedes led many to think that Wolff was moving primarily to prevent his long-time rival from having a privileged access route for a return to F1. In a recent interview with the Press Association, Wolff however denied this reconstruction, claiming that this operation is completely unrelated to the personal relationship that unites – or rather, it would be better to say divides – him and Horner.
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“Our interest in that share has nothing to do with Christian – Wolff stated – the idea that there is a rivalry between me and Christian over who buys a share of Alpine is made up. It would be rather sad if this were a determining factor in deciding whether or not to make such an investment. We are evaluating the issue from different angles and have not reached any conclusion. We want to understand if it makes sense”. During his career in F1, it is worth remembering that Wolff has already held shares in other teams besides Mercedes, such as Williams and Aston Martin.
