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Mercedes has pulled out of talks to buy a minority stake in rival F1 team Alpine, believing the stake owned by US investment firm Otro Capital to be too expensive.
Earlier this year it was revealed that the Silver Arrows were among a number of suitors looking to purchase a 24 per cent stake in the Enstone team.
Sky Sports understands that Mercedes believes the valuation of Otro’s stake, which is in the region of €700m (£606.3m), is too high.
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly during pre-season testing in Bahrain
The Silver Arrows team is valued at €3bn (£2.6bn). Otro bought their stake in Alpine in 2023 for €200m (£173.2m) while Renault Group owns the team’s remaining 76 per cent stake.
Otro Capital previously worked with the Dallas Cowboys NFL side.
The investment firm is believed to have backers including Rory McIlroy, Anthony Joshua and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and is expected to double or triple their income from the investment they made in 2023.
Sky Sports also understands that a consortium linked to former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner remains one of a number of potential groups still interested in buying a stake in the team.
Reports first surfaced earlier this year that Mercedes, Alpine’s engine supplier for the 2026 season, was interested in investing in the Oxfordshire-based F1 team.
The news spurred Flavio, Alpine’s executive adviser Briatore will comment on this at the Chinese Grand Prix – although he kept his cards close to his chest.
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Jack Brown, McLaren’s chief executive officer, talks about his thoughts on Gianpiero Lambius, Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ interest in buying an Alpine stake.
“Every day is a new situation,” Briatore said. “I don’t know what the latest is, but what I say is that I know it’s a discussion with Mercedes, not with Toto (Wolf personally), with Mercedes, and we’ll see.
“Right now, we have three or four potential buyers. Don’t forget, we’re talking about Otro shares, nothing to do with Alpine.
“It’s a stake owned by this hedge fund, it’s called Otro, an American fund. They want to sell 24 percent and some candidates are ready to do the deal.”
In March, a Silver Arrows spokesperson said: “Mercedes is a key strategic partner of Alpine and we are kept informed of the latest developments,” a Silver Arrows statement said in March.
However, McLaren CEO Jack Brown criticized the potential purchase, criticizing the prospect of multi-team ownership in F1 in April.
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Watch all the heated moments between Kimi Antonelli vs. George Russell at the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
The American executive has been a critic of what he calls the ‘AB team’ for some time, explaining that he believes that collaboration between the teams “runs a high risk of compromising the sporting integrity of the sport”.
“The fastest lap we’ve seen from a team, Daniel Ricciardo (while driving for Racing Bulls) took a point away from McLaren to help Max (Verstappen) and Red Bull (at the 2024 Singapore GP),” Brown explained to Sky Sports News.
“We’ve seen IP transfer from one team to another. We’ve seen employees move overnight from one team to another where I have to wait until 2028. So they get an athletic benefit there, sometimes it comes with some remuneration — they don’t have to write a check, so it’s a cost-cap benefit.”
He added to those comments again at a McLaren media event later in the year.
“In my view, all 11 teams should be as independent as possible,” Brown said.
Next up is Formula 1’s European summer swing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the first of six races in eight weeks. Watch live on Sky Sports F1 from 5-7 June. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
