Deadpool Takes Vegas: How Formula 1’s Alpine Became a Celeb Magnet

XPB / Courtesy of BWT Alpine F1 Team

It’s a chilly night in the desert, and the atmosphere is tense in the Alpine garage. The French Formula 1 team’s driver, Esteban Ocon, is in the midst of a remarkable performance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, dicing his way from 16th to the top five. Now he needs a solid pit stop to secure a strong finish.

As Ocon slows down to enter pit lane, the Alpine crew springs to life, rolling fresh tires out of the garage and readying their wheel guns. Strategists and engineers look on, crunching numbers and shouting orders into their headsets, knowing that one misstep could ruin the night.

Standing in the back of the garage, studying this anxious scene with arms folded, is an unlikely VIP—one of the team’s new owners, Rob McElhenney.

Yes, that Rob McElhenney. The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia guy now owns a Formula 1 team.

It's not quite as wild as it sounds: he and friend Ryan Reynolds famously own a chunk of English soccer club Wrexham AFC, and are part of an investment group that purchased a 24% stake in Alpine this past summer.

Of course, Formula 1—with its borderline absurd pomp and circumstance—is a totally different beast from low-level European soccer. Getting in the door, accordingly, requires a lot more money. So other A-list celebrities followed their lead: Last month, actor Michael B. Jordan, golfer Rory McIlroy, heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, and Kansas City Chiefs superstars Pat Mahomes and Travis Kelce all announced that they were investing in the team as well, forming arguably the most high-profile investor group in sports history.

And one of the perks of owning the team, McElhenney learned, is that you get your own headset in the garage—and a pretty nice viewing spot come race day.

As Ocon reaches the pit box, the crew moves like synchronized dancers, replacing the car’s tires in about two seconds. McElhenney gently pumps his fist, while his wife, fellow Sunny star Katilin Olson, films the sequence on her phone. The garage erupts in high fives as Ocon sets off on what would ultimately be a fourth-place finish—one of his best races of the season.

For Alpine—formally known as the BWT Alpine F1 Team—the sudden infusion of celebrity investors has been a game changer, and the team’s drivers can sense it. Earlier in the week, at the Alpine hospitality center, Ocon and his teammate, fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly, were marveling at the team’s rising morale.

“When this type of news happens, you see an immediate spark,” said Gasly. “Having such big names, champions of their industry, come on board and trust the project…you can tell the motivation it brought to the guys.”

Celebrity run-ins are now a common occurrence at Alpine. A few days prior to the race, Gasly had been chatting with Rory McIlroy to get some putting tips ahead of the Netflix Cup (a televised golf/Formula 1 crossover). Ocon, meanwhile, had finally met Ryan Reynolds, one of his idols, who stopped by for a brief garage tour.

Ocon—nicknamed “Estie Bestie”—even got to show off his Deadpool-inspired helmet that he had designed specifically for Las Vegas.

“I wanted to do that helmet because I’m a big Marvel fan, and a big fan of his as well,” Ocon said. “It was awesome—he was super interested in what we do.”

The partnership between Alpine and its new celebrity investors is mutually beneficial. A-listers are able to join Formula 1, one of the hottest sports in the world right now, while Alpine gains enormous brand exposure (Reynolds alone has 50 million followers on Instagram).

There are other, longer-term benefits, too. Unbeknownst to many Americans, Alpine is a luxury sportscar brand in France. And though it doesn’t sell cars in the U.S. currently, it plans on doing so within the next few years, hot on the heels of its rising popularity in Formula 1.

“It’s important for us to create this brand,” said Philippe Krief, Alpine’s CEO, who notes that this type of investment model is unique for the sport. “Ferrari doesn’t need to do this… Mercedes doesn’t need to do this, you know? We need this part, though.”

With three Formula 1 races scheduled for the U.S. next year, there will be ample opportunity for Alpine to increase its footing in the States—and plenty of chances for more celebrity investors to make their way to the paddock. Maholmes and Kelce, for example, couldn’t join the team in Vegas this year due to a Monday Night Football game against the Eagles, but there’s hope the two could make cameos at next season’s Miami Grand Prix (which coincidentally takes place at Hard Rock Stadium).

“I have big respect for those guys and what they’re doing,” said Gasly. “Obviously, in Formula 1, you have that image of living a cool lifestyle. But in the NFL, I feel it’s on a similar level, maybe even more hype for those guys. They’re just cool dudes.”

And, of course, any time Kelce is involved, Taylor Swift might not be far behind.

“I’ve got her all over my Instagram,” Gasly laughed.

With the Las Vegas Grand Prix now in the rearview, and the 2023 season just about over, there is growing optimism at Alpine. The team hopes to eventually move up from the midfield and start challenging Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari for wins and podiums—and with Alpine’s new star power behind it, Ocon and Gasly are confident success will follow.

“We’re embracing their knowledge from their own industries to help us develop at a faster pace,” Gasly said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about bringing Alpine to the top of the sport.”

Originally Appeared on GQ