Last June, Renault Group confirmed the sale of a 24% stake in the Alpine Formula 1 team to a group of investors made up of Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Efforts Investments. Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan were among the first wave of investors, and that group grew in October.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, a pair of three-time Super Bowl champions, were a part of a group that invested over $200 million in the team. That group also included Rory McIlroy, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Juan Mata, Anthony Joshua, and Alexander Zverev.

Kelce wore an Alpine hat during a Super Bowl LVIII press conference last month. We would be remiss not to mention the fact that Taylor Swift is not among the team’s investors.

Travis Kelce wearing an @AlpineF1Team hat after the Super Bowl win #f1 pic.twitter.com/ogszkkjBk7

— Axis Of Oversteer (@AxisOfOversteer) February 12, 2024

Alpine a complete disaster to start 2024

After preseason testing at Bahrain International Circuit, the site of the 2024 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, there were major concerns about the performance of the new Renault-powered A524.

The car was said to be “overweight, aerodynamically inefficient, slow on a single lap and in long runs”, and the general feeling was that they would be giving the usual backmarkers a run for their money at the tail end the grid, despite having not placed lower than sixth in the constructor standings since Renault’s return season to Formula 1 in 2016.

Friday’s qualifying session at the 15-turn, 3.363-mile (5.412-kilometer) road course in Sakhir, Bahrain solidified that belief, with Esteban Ocon qualifying in 19th place and teammate Pierre Gasly qualifying in 20th, giving the team a back row lockout.

The race was even worse.

While Ocon and Gasly both made up two spots from their respective starting positions, they did so because other drivers experienced significant issues. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas had a long pit stop, and Williams’ Logan Sargeant was mired in last after a steering wheel issue.

Even Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, who needed repairs after an opening lap collision with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, still managed to finish ahead of the Alpine duo in 16th place.

Their start to the year is probably the closest thing we have seen to that of the 2019 Williams team, and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of optimism surrounding a potential turnaround. This turnaround is going to take much longer than 13 seconds, especially as several key personnel have already resigned.

At least Chiefs haters have something to hang their hat on after their latest inevitable Super Bowl run.

The 2024 season’s second race is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Saturday, March 9. ESPN2, not ESPN, is set to provide live coverage beginning at 11:55 a.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss it!