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Eddie Jordan doesn’t think ’embarrassing’ F1 team will be on the 2025 grid

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Eddie Jordan believes Alpine may no longer be on the F1 grid in its current guise next year.

It’s been a miserable start to the season for Alpine, who have yet to have score a single point.

And speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan predicted that their days could be numbered.

The current team is a descendant of the Renault outfit that delivered two world championships for Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.

They were known as Lotus between 2011 and 2016, when the Renault badge returned.

In 2020, the company chose to rebrand the Enstone-based outfit as sports car division Alpine.

Last summer, a host of A-list celebrities, including actor Ryan Reynolds, boxer Anthony Joshua and footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold invested a total of $200m.

But they have seen Alpine drop to the back of the field this year after finishing sixth in the 2023 championship.

F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia
Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images

Eddie Jordan makes Alpine sale prediction

Jordan, who founded his own team in the 1990s and later worked as an analyst for BBC Sport and Channel 4, ripped into Alpine.

He says the team have delivered an ’embarrassing’ car for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, both of whom have won Grands Prix.

And he believes Renault are reducing their commitment to the cause, opening the door for a sale ahead of 2025.

He said: “At the moment, they are the most floundering team. It is absolutely embarrassing. I find it embarrassing to watch Gasly and Ocon, who are capable of winning races.

“Do I see them there next year? Absolutely not. Not a chance.

“I think it’s wide open for a sale. I think Renault have pulled back from it – they don’t want to spend the money on the engines, and the engines for 2026 are such a big outlay in terms of development and cost, it’s frightening.”

Anthony Joshua and co. will be hugely disappointed

If there is to be a sale, then Joshua and his fellow investors may have a decision to make on whether to retain their stakes.

In addition to struggling on the racetrack, Alpine have been in a state of disarray behind the scenes with several key personnel leaving.

Since last summer, CEO Laurent Rossi, team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane have headlined an exodus.

Szafnauer believes that ‘bad decisions’ behind the scenes have led to the current situation.

And F1 expert Gary Anderson says the French team appears to be ‘internally exploding’ at present.

Any possible buyers know that there will be a major change to the F1 engine regulations in 2026, which will potentially shake up the pecking order.