Alpine Academy Explained

Alpine Academy
Founded:	(as RF1 Driver Programme)
Base:	Enstone, Oxfordshire, England
Principal:	Julian Rouse (Director)
Current Drivers:	FIA Formula 2 Kush Maini Gabriele Minì FIA Formula 3 Nicola Lacorte Italian F4 Kabir Anurag GB3 Championship Abbi Pulling Karting Ilie Tristan Crisan Aiva Anagnostiadis Angélina Proenca Lisa Billard Maria Chiara Nardelli Sukhmani Kaur Khera
Website:	https://www.alpine-cars.co.uk/formula-1/alpine-academy.html

The Alpine Academy,^[1] formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy, is a driver development programme to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created by Renault F1 in 2002.

In 2011, the programme was renamed LRGP Academy, following the rebranding of the team to "Lotus Renault GP".^[2] In 2012, the programme was renamed Lotus F1 Team iRace Professional Programme and 2013–2015, the programme was renamed Lotus F1 Junior Team. In 2021, the programme was renamed Alpine Academy after the rebranding of the Renault F1 team into Alpine F1 Team. In March 2022, the Alpine Affiliates programme was launched as a support to drivers starting their motorsport careers, and is intended to be a feeder for the Alpine Academy.^[3] However, it was merged into Alpine Academy at the start of 2023.

Current drivers

Driver			Titles as Alpine junior
Victor Martins^[4]	2021–	TBA	FIA Formula 3 Championship
Abbi Pulling	2022–	GB3 Championship	F1 Academy
Gabriele Minì^[5]	2023–	FIA Formula 2 Championship	none as Alpine Academy member
Kush Maini^[6]	2023–	FIA Formula 2 Championship	none as Alpine Academy member
Nicola Lacorte^[7]	2023–	FIA Formula 3 Championship	none as Alpine Academy member
Kabir Anurag^[8]	2024–	Italian F4 Championship Euro 4 Championship	none as Alpine Academy member
Ilie Tristan Crisan^[9]	2025–	WSK Super Master Series	none as Alpine Academy member

Rac(H)er Karting Programme

Driver			Titles as Rac(H)er member
Aiva Anagnostiadis^[10]	2023–	Australia Kart Championship	none as Rac(H)er Programme member
Angélina Proenca	2023–	IAME Euro Series	none as Rac(H)er Programme member
Lisa Billard	2023–	Championnat de France Junior Championship	none as Rac(H)er Programme member
Maria Chiara Nardelli	2023–	Italian ACI Karting Championship	none as Rac(H)er Programme member
Sukhmani Kaur Khera	2023–	British Karting Championship	none as Rac(H)er Programme member

Graduates to Formula 1

This list contains the drivers that have graduated to Formula 1 while being supported by Renault, Lotus Renault, or Alpine. Therefore, drivers who have had support in the past and entered Formula 1 through other means are not included. For example, both Zhou Guanyu and Oscar Piastri were members of the Alpine Academy, however, they broke their ties with the academy to pursue a graduation to Formula 1 with another team.^{[11] [12]}

Driver	Academy experience		F1 experience with Renault/Lotus/Alpine	F1 experience with other teams
	Years	Former series
data-sort-value="KOV"	Heikki Kovalainen	2002–2005	British Formula 3 Championship (2002) World Series by Nissan (2003–2004) GP2 Series (2005)		McLaren (–) Team Lotus (–) Caterham Lotus F1
data-sort-value="GRO"	Romain Grosjean	2006–2009	Formula 3 Euro Series (2006–2007) GP2 Asia Series (2008) GP2 Series (2008–2009)	–	Haas (–)
data-sort-value="DOO"	Jack Doohan	2022–2024	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2022–2023)	–

Former drivers

Renault / Lotus Renault GP (2002–2011, 2016–2020)

Driver	Years		F1 Team(s)
Fabio Carbone	2002	British Formula 3 Championship (2002)	None
Robert Kubica	2002	Italian Formula Renault Championship (2002)	BMW Sauber (2006–2009) Renault (2010) Williams (2019) Alfa Romeo (2021)
Tiago Monteiro	2002	French Formula Three Championship (2002) International Formula 3000 (2002)	Jordan (2005) Midland F1 (2006)
Carlo van Dam	2002	Karting (2002)	None
Eric Salignon	2002–2003	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2002) Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 (2002) British Formula 3 Championship (2003)	None
Danny Watts	2003	British Formula 3 Championship (2003)	None
José María López	2003–2006	Formula Renault V6 Eurocup (2003) International Formula 3000 (2004) GP2 Series (2005–2006)	None
Giedo van der Garde	2004	Formula 3 Euro Series (2004)	Caterham (2013)
Loïc Duval	2004–2005	Formula 3 Euro Series (2004–2005)	None
Pastor Maldonado	2004–2005	Italian Formula Renault Championship (2004) Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2004) Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2005)	Williams (2011–2013) Lotus F1 (2014–2015)
Jérôme d'Ambrosio	2004, 2010		Virgin Racing (2011) Lotus F1 (2012)
Lucas di Grassi	2005–2007	Formula 3 Euro Series (2005) GP2 Series (2006–2007)	Virgin Racing (2010)
Ben Hanley	2006–2008	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2006–2007) GP2 Series (2008)	None
Dani Clos^[13]	2007	Formula 3 Euro Series (2007)	None
Nelson Panciatici	2007	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2007) Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 (2007)	None
Charles Pic^[14]	2009	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2009)	Marussia (2012) Caterham (2013)
Marco Sørensen	2009	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2009) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2009)	None
Davide Valsecchi	2009	GP2 Series (2009)	None
Jan Charouz	2010–2011	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2010–11) Auto GP (2011)	None
Ho-Pin Tung	2010–2011	GP2 Series (2010) Superleague Formula (2011)	None
Fairuz Fauzy	2011	GP2 Series (2011)	None
Louis Delétraz	2016	GP2 Series (2016) Formula V8 3.5 Series (2016)	None
Kevin Jörg	2016	GP3 Series (2016)	None
Oliver Rowland	2016	GP2 Series (2016)	None
Jack Aitken^[15]	2016–2018	GP3 Series (2016–17) FIA Formula 2 Championship	Williams (2020)
Sun Yueyang^[16]	2016–2018	Karting (2016) Formula Renault Eurocup (2017) Formula Renault NEC (2017) BRDC British Formula 3 Championship (2018)	None
Marta García	2017	Spanish F4 Championship (2017) SMP F4 Championship (2017)	None
Jarno Opmeer	2017	Formula Renault Eurocup (2017)	None
Sacha Fenestraz^[17]	2017–2018	Formula Renault Eurocup (2017) FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2018) GP3 Series (2018)	None
Max Fewtrell^[18]	2017–2020	Formula Renault Eurocup (2017–2018) Formula Renault NEC (2017–18) FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019–20)	None
Christian Lundgaard^[19]	2017–2020	SMP F4 Championship (2017) F4 Spanish Championship (2017) Formula Renault Eurocup (2018) FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019) FIA Formula 2 Championship (2020)	None
Arthur Rougier	2018	Formula Renault Eurocup (2018)	None
Anthoine Hubert^[20]	2018–2019	FIA Formula 2 Championship	None
Victor Martins^[21]	2018–2019	Formula Renault Eurocup (2018, 2019)
Leonardo Lorandi^[22]	2019	Formula Renault Eurocup (2019)	None
Yifei Ye^[23]	2019	FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019)	None
Caio Collet^[24]	2019–2020	Formula Renault Eurocup (2019–2020)	None
Guanyu Zhou^[25]	2019–2020	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2019–2020)	Alfa Romeo (2022–2023) Kick Sauber (2024)
Hadrien David^[26]	2020	Formula Renault Eurocup (2020)	None
Oscar Piastri^[27]	2020	FIA Formula 3 Championship (2020)	McLaren (2023–)^[28]

• Championship titles highlighted in bold.

Lotus F1 (2012–2015)

Driver	Years		F1 Team(s)
Kevin Korjus^[29]	2012	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2012)	None
Richie Stanaway	2012	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2012)	None
Óscar Tunjo	2012–2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2012–2013) Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (2012) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2013) Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2014) GP3 Series (2015)	None
Esteban Ocon	2012–2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2012–2013) Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (2012) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2013) FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2014) Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2014)	Manor (2016) Force India (2017–2018) Racing Point Force India (2018) Renault (2020) Alpine (2021–2024) Haas (2025–)
Dorian Boccolacci	2012–2015	Karting (2012–13) French F4 Championship (2014) FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2015)	None
Alex Fontana	2013–2014	GP3 Series (2013–2014)	None
Marco Sørensen	2013–2015	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2013–2014) GP2 Series (2014–2015) FIA World Endurance Championship (2015)	None
Alexander Albon^[30]	2013–2015	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2013–2014) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2013–2014) FIA Formula 3 European Championship (2015)	Toro Rosso (2019) Red Bull (2019–2020) Williams (2022–)
Marlon Stöckinger	2013–2015	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2013–2015) GP2 Series (2015)	None
Callan O'Keeffe	2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2014) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2014)	None
Gregor Ramsay	2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (2014) Formula Renault 2.0 NEC (2014)	None
Juan Manuel Correa^[31]	2014–2015	Karting (2014–2015)	None
Matthieu Vaxivière	2015	Formula Renault 3.5 Series (2015) Formula Renault 2.0 Alps (2015)	None
Petr Ptáček^[32]	2015	Karting (2015)	None

Alpine F1 (2021–)

Driver	Years		F1 Team(s)
Christian Lundgaard	2021	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2021) IndyCar Series (2021)	None
Guanyu Zhou	2021	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2021) F3 Asian Championship (2021)	Alfa Romeo (2022–2023) Kick Sauber (2024)
Caio Collet	2021–2022	FIA Formula 3 Championship (2021–2022)	None
Oscar Piastri	2021–2022	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2021)	McLaren (2023–)
Olli Caldwell^[33]	2022	FIA Formula 2 Championship (2022)	None
Hadrien David	2022	Formula Regional European Championship (2022)	None
Matheus Ferreira	2022–2023	Italian F4 Championship (2023) F4 Brazilian Championship (2023)	None
Kean Nakamura-Berta^[34]	2022–2024	Karting (2022–2023) Formula 4 UAE Championship (2024) Italian F4 Championship (2024) Euro 4 Championship (2024)	None
Nikola Tsolov^[35] ^[36]	2022–2024	F4 Spanish Championship (2022) FIA Formula 3 Championship (2023–2024)	None
Aiden Neate	2023	Formula Regional Middle East Championship (2023) F4 British Championship (2023)	None
Sophia Flörsch^[37]	2023–2024	FIA Formula 3 Championship (2023–2024)	None

• Championship titles highlighted in bold.

Rac(H)er Karting Programme

See also

• Alpine F1 Team

External links

• Renault Formula One Official website - Renault Sport Academy

Notes and References

1. Web site: Howard. Tom. 2021-02-10. Alpine F1 team launches rebranded junior academy. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210214201730/https://au.motorsport.com/fia-f2/news/alpine-launches-rebranded-driver-academy/5374497/ . 2021-02-14 . 2021-02-10. Motorsport.com Australia. Motorsport Network. en.
2. News: Fairuz Fauzy to become Renault reserve. 19 January 2011. 19 January 2011. formula1.com. Formula One Administration.
3. News: Alpine launches new 'Affiliate' driver programme. 9 March 2022. 9 March 2022. Motorsport Week.
4. Web site: 2021-02-10. Larkam. Lewis. Alpine F1 team reveals Academy line-up for 2021 season. 2021-02-10. Crash. en.
5. Web site: Mini and Tsolov join Alpine Academy for 2023 season . 2024-07-18 . FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website . en.
6. Web site: Wood . Ida . 2023-10-24 . Mika Hakkinen's protege Kush Maini becomes Alpine F1 junior . 2023-10-24 . Formula Scout . en-US.
7. Web site: 2023-12-04 . Alpine adds Nicola Lacorte in its F1 academy . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205141715/https://formularapida.net/alpine-adds-nicola-lacorte-in-its-f1-academy/ . 2023-12-05 . 2023-12-04 . FormulaRapida.net . en-US.
8. Web site: Almeida . Mario . 15 April 2024 . Kabir Anurag joins the Alpine Academy programme . 15 April 2024 . Alpine.
9. Web site: Wood . Ida . 26 January 2025 . WSK Super Master Series begins with unveiling of new Alpine junior . 26 January 2025 . Formula Scout.
10. Web site: 2023-02-17 . Alpine launches all-female karting programme . 2023-06-21 . Racers . en.
11. Web site: Alfa Romeo announce Guanyu Zhou as Valtteri Bottas's team mate for 2022 Formula 1® . 2024-09-25 . Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website . en.
12. Web site: Barretto . Lawrence . EXCLUSIVE: Piastri on joining McLaren, leaving Alpine and making his F1 debut . www.formula1.com . Formula One . 3 September 2022 . 29 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220929132500/https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.exclusive-piastri-on-joining-mclaren-leaving-alpine-and-making-his-f1-debut.5QCf7hwpoP2DwexQzKkVy7.html . live .
13. Web site: The Renault Driver development Programme announces its 2007 class . 14 February 2007 . . 14 February 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070216195313/http://www.renault.com/renault_com/en/images/13351%2013351_RDD_GB_tcm1120-565187.pdf . February 16, 2007 .
14. Web site: The Renault Driver development Programme announces its 2009 class. 19 January 2009. f1technical.net. 14 February 2015.
15. News: Renault names Ocon as F1 reserve, plus four-man academy. Allen. Peter. 3 February 2016. Paddock Scout. 4 February 2016.
16. News: Renault signs Chinese karting driver Sun Yue Yang. Khorounzhiy. Valentin. 13 April 2016. Motorsport.com. 13 April 2016. 12 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170312062519/https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/renault-signs-chinese-karting-driver-sun-yue-yang-686637/. dead.
17. Web site: Sacha Fenestraz loses Renault academy status and looks to Japan for 2019. Allen. Peter. FormulaScout. December 18, 2018. December 19, 2018.
18. Web site: Aitken leads 2017 Renault Sport Academy line-up. 21 February 2017. 21 February 2017. 7 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107024912/https://www.motorsport.com/frenault/news/aitken-leads-2017-renault-sport-academy-line-up-875488/. dead.
19. Web site: Garcia and Lundgaard announced to Renault Sport Academy. 31 March 2017. 1 April 2017.
20. Web site: GP3 champion Anthoine Hubert joins Renault F1 scheme, makes F2 move. Horton. Phillip. Motorsport Week. 23 January 2019. 23 January 2019. 23 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223657/https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/21294. dead.
21. Web site: French F4 rivals Rougier and Martins become Renault juniors ahead of Eurocup moves. 15 January 2018. 16 January 2018.
22. News: Suttill . Josh . Leonardo Lorandi earns Renault F1 affiliate driver status . 23 May 2019 . formulascout.com . Formula Scout . 23 May 2019.
23. Web site: Yifei Ye joins Renault Sport Academy ahead of FIA F3. Allen. Peter. FormulaScout. 11 April 2019. 11 April 2019.
24. Web site: Renault Sport Academy signs Caio Collet. 22 January 2019. 22 January 2019. 27 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027132037/https://www.renaultsport.com/renault-sport-academy-signs-caio-collet.html?r=331. dead.
25. Web site: 22 January 2019. GUANYU ZHOU JOINS THE RENAULT SPORT ACADEMY FOR 2019. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20190316085152/http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2019/01_january/Guanyu-Zhou-joins-the-Renault-Sport-Academy-for-2019/. 16 March 2019. 22 January 2019.
26. Web site: 2022-03-09 . Alpine Academy introduces Affiliate programme and Abbi Pulling as the academy's first ever female driver . 2022-05-23 . The Checkered Flag . en-GB.
27. Web site: Piastri combines with Prema for FIA Formula 3 Championship and joins Renault Sport Academy. https://web.archive.org/web/20200127072546/https://www.automobilsport.com/race-categories--24/race-categories--24,203125,Piastri-combines-with-Prema-for-FIA-Formula-3-Championship-and-joins-Renault-Sport-Academy,news.htm. usurped. 27 January 2020. January 26, 2020. January 27, 2020.
28. News: Piastri to drive for McLaren as Alpine lose appeal . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2022-09-02.
29. News: Lotus and Gravity launch iRace Professional Programme. Allen. Peter. 5 February 2012. Paddock Scout. Peter Allen. 18 July 2012.
30. News: Lotus F1 Junior Team drivers announced. 15 February 2013. GPUpdate.net. JHED Media BV. 15 February 2013.
31. News: O'Keeffe and Ramsay join Lotus F1 Junior Team. Allen. Peter. Paddock Scout. PaddockScout.com. 2 April 2014. 2 April 2014.
32. Web site: Petr Ptacek Jr avec Lotus F1 Junior Team et Energy en 2015. Kartcom. 4 November 2014. 3 January 2023.
33. Web site: 2022-02-14 . Alpine adds Doohan and Caldwell to F1 driver academy . 2022-05-23 . Motorsport Week . en-GB.
34. Web site: 2023-02-14. Alpine présente le cru 2023 de son Academy . 2023-02-14. Autohebdo. fr.
35. https://www.fiaformula3.com/Latest/5zPRKSafty78mgYZugp1XQ/mini-and-tsolov-join-alpine-academy-for-2023-season Mini and Tsolov join Alpine Academy for 2023 season
36. Web site: I would like to thank Alpine Academy . 2024-11-04 . Nikola Tsolov on Instagram.
37. Web site: 2023-02-16. Alpine's RAC(H)ER programme for equal opportunity announces new talents and the creation of its human high-performance centre. 2023-02-16. Alpine.
38. News: 17 February 2023 . Announcement . @chiarabaettig on Instagram.
39. News: 29 December 2023 . As I continue to prepare for the new racing season . @chiarabaettig on Instagram.