Program to support young racing drivers through their careers
TheAlpine Academy ,[ 1] RF1 Driver Programme ,Renault Driver Development andRenault Sport Academy , is adriver development programme to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created byRenault F1 in 2002.
In 2011, the programme was renamedLRGP Academy , following the rebranding of the team to "Lotus Renault GP ".[ 2] Lotus F1 Team iRace Professional ProgrammeLotus F1 Junior TeamAlpine F1 Team . In March 2022, theAlpine 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]
[ edit ] Driver Years Current Series Titles as Rac(H)er member [ 11] 2023– Australia Kart Championship none as Rac(H)er Programme member [ 11] 2023– IAME Euro Series none as Rac(H)er Programme member [ 11] 2023– Championnat de France Junior Championship none as Rac(H)er Programme member [ 11] 2023– Italian ACI Karting Championship none as Rac(H)er Programme member
Graduates to Formula 1 [ edit ] 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, bothZhou Guanyu andOscar 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.[ 13] [ 14]
[ edit ] Championship titles highlighted inbold . [ edit ] Championship titles highlighted inbold . [ edit ] Driver Years Series competed [ 42] [ 43] 2023 OK Junior Switzerland
^ Khera was a member of the Rac(H)er Programme beginning in 2023, and graduated to the Alpine Academy in 2025. ^ Hubert was a member of the Renault Sport Academy when he suffered a fatal crash in the 2019 Belgian F2 Feature Race.[ 24] ^ Howard, Tom (10 February 2021)."Alpine F1 team launches rebranded junior academy" .Motorsport.com Australia Motorsport Network .Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved10 February 2021 . ^ "Fairuz Fauzy to become Renault reserve" .formula1.com .Formula One Administration . 19 January 2011. Retrieved19 January 2011 .^ "Alpine launches new 'Affiliate' driver programme" .Motorsport Week . 9 March 2022. Retrieved9 March 2022 .^ "Mini and Tsolov join Alpine Academy for 2023 season" .FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website . Retrieved18 July 2024 .^ Wood, Ida (24 October 2023)."Mika Hakkinen's protege Kush Maini becomes Alpine F1 junior" .Formula Scout . Retrieved24 October 2023 . ^ Almeida, Mario (15 April 2024)."Kabir Anurag joins the Alpine Academy programme" .Alpine . Retrieved15 April 2024 . ^ "Alpine adds Nicola Lacorte in its F1 academy" .FormulaRapida.net . 4 December 2023.Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved4 December 2023 .^ Wood, Ida (18 March 2025)."Keanu Al Azhari joins Alpine Academy ahead of GB3 move" .Formula Scout . Retrieved18 March 2025 . ^ "Hitech embark on first-ever assault on Formula Winter Series" .Hitech Grand Prix . Retrieved12 February 2025 .^ Wood, Ida (26 January 2025)."WSK Super Master Series begins with unveiling of new Alpine junior" .Formula Scout . Retrieved26 January 2025 . ^a b c d e "Alpine launches all-female karting programme" .Racers . 17 February 2023. Retrieved21 June 2023 .^ @AlpineF1Team (18 February 2025)."BWT Alpine Formula One Team is proud to announce Alpine Rac(H)er driver Sukhmani Khera graduates to full-time Alpine Academy member 🙌" (Tweet ). Retrieved18 February 2025 – viaTwitter . ^ "Alfa Romeo announce Guanyu Zhou as Valtteri Bottas's team mate for 2022 | Formula 1®" .Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website . Retrieved25 September 2024 .^ Barretto, Lawrence."EXCLUSIVE: Piastri on joining McLaren, leaving Alpine and making his F1 debut" .www.formula1.com . Formula One.Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved3 September 2022 . ^a b c d "The Renault Driver development Programme announces its 2007 class" (PDF) .Renault Sport . 14 February 2007. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on 16 February 2007. Retrieved14 February 2015 .^a b "The Renault Driver development Programme announces its 2009 class" . f1technical.net. 19 January 2009. Retrieved14 February 2015 .^a b c d Allen, Peter (3 February 2016)."Renault names Ocon as F1 reserve, plus four-man academy" . Paddock Scout. Retrieved4 February 2016 . ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (13 April 2016)."Renault signs Chinese karting driver Sun Yue Yang" .Motorsport.com . Archived fromthe original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved13 April 2016 . ^a b "Aitken leads 2017 Renault Sport Academy line-up" . 21 February 2017. Archived fromthe original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved21 February 2017 .^ Allen, Peter (18 December 2018)."Sacha Fenestraz loses Renault academy status and looks to Japan for 2019" .FormulaScout . Retrieved19 December 2018 . ^a b "Garcia and Lundgaard announced to Renault Sport Academy" . 31 March 2017. Retrieved1 April 2017 .^a b "French F4 rivals Rougier and Martins become Renault juniors ahead of Eurocup moves" . 15 January 2018. Retrieved16 January 2018 .^ Horton, Phillip (23 January 2019)."GP3 champion Anthoine Hubert joins Renault F1 scheme, makes F2 move" .Motorsport Week . Archived fromthe original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved23 January 2019 . ^ "F2 driver Hubert killed in Spa-Francorchamps crash" .motorsport.com . Motorsport.com. 31 August 2019. Retrieved31 August 2019 .^ Suttill, Josh (23 May 2019)."Leonardo Lorandi earns Renault F1 affiliate driver status" .formulascout.com . Formula Scout. Retrieved23 May 2019 . ^ Allen, Peter (11 April 2019)."Yifei Ye joins Renault Sport Academy ahead of FIA F3" .FormulaScout . Retrieved11 April 2019 . ^ "Renault Sport Academy signs Caio Collet" . 22 January 2019. Archived fromthe original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved22 January 2019 .^ "GUANYU ZHOU JOINS THE RENAULT SPORT ACADEMY FOR 2019" . 22 January 2019. Archived fromthe original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved22 January 2019 .^a b "Alpine Academy introduces Affiliate programme and Abbi Pulling as the academy's first ever female driver" .The Checkered Flag . 9 March 2022. Retrieved23 May 2022 .^a b "Piastri combines with Prema for FIA Formula 3 Championship and joins Renault Sport Academy" . 26 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved27 January 2020 .^ "Piastri to drive for McLaren as Alpine lose appeal" .BBC Sport . Retrieved2 September 2022 .^a b Allen, Peter (5 February 2012)."Lotus and Gravity launch iRace Professional Programme" .Paddock Scout . Peter Allen. Retrieved18 July 2012 . ^a b c d e f g h "Lotus F1 Junior Team drivers announced" .GPUpdate.net . JHED Media BV. 15 February 2013. Retrieved15 February 2013 .^a b c Allen, Peter (2 April 2014)."O'Keeffe and Ramsay join Lotus F1 Junior Team" .Paddock Scout . PaddockScout.com. Retrieved2 April 2014 . ^ "Petr Ptacek Jr avec Lotus F1 Junior Team et Energy en 2015" .Kartcom . 4 November 2014. Retrieved3 January 2023 .^ Larkam, Lewis (10 February 2021)."Alpine F1 team reveals Academy line-up for 2021 season" .Crash . Retrieved10 February 2021 . ^ "Alpine adds Doohan and Caldwell to F1 driver academy" .Motorsport Week . 14 February 2022. Retrieved23 May 2022 .^a b c d "Alpine présente le cru 2023 de son Academy" .Autohebdo . Retrieved14 February 2023 .^ Mini and Tsolov join Alpine Academy for 2023 season ^ "I would like to thank Alpine Academy" .Nikola Tsolov onInstagram . Retrieved4 November 2024 .^ "Alpine's RAC(H)ER programme for equal opportunity announces new talents and the creation of its human high-performance centre" .Alpine . 16 February 2023. Retrieved16 February 2023 .^ "Announcement" . @chiarabaettig onInstagram . 17 February 2023.^ "As I continue to prepare for the new racing season" . @chiarabaettig onInstagram . 29 December 2023.
Titles achieved with Renault engines
Driver development programs
Formula One Marque aligned Sportscar racing Country aligned Other
Kush Maini
Gabriele Minì
Keanu Al Azhari
Kabir Anurag
Nina Gademan
Ilie Tristan Crisan
Sukhmani Kaur Khera
Aiva Anagnostiadis[11]
Angélina Proenca[11]
Heikki Kovalainen
Chiara Bättig[42][43]
