BWT Alpine Formula One Team

The team based in Enstone, in the English county of Oxfordshire, boasts one of the most eventful histories in Formula One. Founded in 1981 as Toleman, it was bought by Italian fashion entrepreneur Luciano Benetton in 1986, who gave it his name. Under team principal Flavio Briatore, Benetton established itself as a fixture in the field throughout the 1990s, before Renault took over the outfit in 2000.

Few other teams in Formula One history have changed their name as often as this outfit from Enstone. Toleman, Benetton, Renault, briefly Lotus, and Alpine since 2021, behind all these names lies essentially the same factory and the same workforce. The nickname “Team Enstone” has stuck among fans and insiders as a result, regardless of which brand name happens to be on the nose of the car at any given time.

The most successful period under the Benetton name fell in 1994 and 1995, when a young Michael Schumacher delivered two drivers’ titles in a row. In 1995, the team also claimed its only constructors’ championship under that name, thanks to its partnership with engine supplier Renault, which would go on to prove far more significant in the years that followed.

After Renault’s takeover in 2000 and the relaunch under its own name from 2002, Fernando Alonso delivered the team’s second great run of success: in 2005 and 2006 the Spaniard won the drivers’ title in consecutive years, while Renault also claimed the constructors’ championship both times. It remains the team’s most recent run of titles to this day.

In 2021 the Renault works team finally became Alpine, named after the parent company’s sports car brand. After several changes at the top of the team, it enters the 2026 season as the BWT Alpine Formula One Team with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, aiming to build gradually back towards the successes of earlier decades after years in the midfield.