BWT Alpine F1 Team is pleased to unveil its Alpine Academy line-up for the 2023 season, which features eight drivers from seven countries competing across six racing categories.

Jack Doohan (Virtuosi Racing) and Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) remain Academy Drivers and they will compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Gabriele Mini (Hitech Grand Prix) signs with the Academy and he will compete 2023 in the FIA Formula 3 Championship alongside Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix), who becomes an Academy Driver after an impressive introductory year as an Alpine Affiliate in 2022.

Abbi Pulling, Matheus Ferreira and Kean Nakamura also join Nikola in becoming fully fledged Academy Drivers with Aiden Neate joining as the third new member of the programme. Abbi will compete in the new-for-2023 F1 Academy Series while Matheus embarks on his debut season in single-seaters as he gears up for the Italian Formula 4 Championship. Aiden will confirm his 2023 plans in due course on the back of competing in the UAE F4 Championship with Kean remaining in Karting.

Olli Caldwell will graduate from the Alpine Academy into LMP2 and will remain associated with Alpine. This comes at a time when Alpine continues to expand its presence in the sportscar world of motorsport with the manufacturer’s LMDh project coming online in 2024. Olli will compete with the official Alpine team in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Academy is looking to build on its connections in the wider realms of motorsport and will benefit from its close work with the Alpine Endurance Team in the near future.

After four years on the programme, Caio Collet retains a connection to the Alpine Racing family without official Academy affiliation.

All Academy Drivers will benefit from the team’s state of the art facilities at its Formula 1 headquarters in Enstone, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom as well as career and racing guidance from the Academy’s fleet of staff who specialise in motorsport, led by Director of Racing Expansion Projects Davide Brivio and Academy Director Julian Rouse.

Laurent Rossi, Alpine Cars CEO: “The Alpine Academy has been strengthened and expanded for 2023 as it remains a seminal part of Alpine Racing’s ambitions in motorsport. While Formula 1 remains the pinnacle, we have adopted a fresh approach to the Academy from this year to expand opportunities under the Alpine umbrella where we have presence across many motorsport disciplines. We are dedicated to progressing drivers through the racing ranks to open up a greater talent pool across our racing teams. Of course, ultimately, the best talent have ambitions of reaching Formula 1 and that remains the objective, but by expanding our vision we will create opportunities to identify, nurture and help our young drivers become accomplished racing drivers who will represent the Alpine brand on a global scale. I’m excited to see what the 2023 drivers can achieve, and I look forward to following their respective seasons very closely.”

Davide Brivio, Director of Racing Expansion Projects, Alpine Racing: “It’s been a privilege to be able to contribute to the Alpine Academy and I think 2023 has the potential to be a very exciting year. We have eight drivers spread across different racing categories all with high ambitions and high targets. Every year that goes by, we see our drivers grow and mature both on and off the track. A key element of 2023 is counting on Alpine’s dedication to motorsport to offer our drivers experience and opportunities. We will work closely with the Alpine Endurance Team and, of course, with the Formula 1 team to push our drivers to adapt, learn and ultimately become better race drivers. It’s a great moment to be involved with the Academy, so let’s see what the year brings.”

Julian Rouse, Alpine Academy Director: “The 2023 Alpine Academy line-up is arguably the most competitive it’s ever been. It’s been great to expand our roster to eight drivers and be able to represent Alpine across many disciplines. In Formula 2, we have two drivers in Jack and Victor who both have the potential to be fighting near the front. It’s the same in Formula 3 with Nikola and Gabriele who I expect will be competitive from the get-go. Away from the Formula 1 support categories, we’re looking forward to seeing what Abbi, Matheus, Aiden and Kean can achieve across their respective series. I’m pleased to see Olli progressing into the sportscar world with us and this is just the start of a much closer and collaborative project where we at the Academy aim to count on the expertise of Alpine’s various racing divisions to give our drivers experience and opportunities. There are exciting times ahead and we’re all looking forward to working closely with our 2023 drivers.”

2023 Alpine Academy
Jack Doohan, FIA Formula 2 Championship, Virtuosi Racing (second year in the category)
Victor Martins, FIA Formula 2 Championship, ART Grand Prix (first year)
Nikola Tsolov, FIA Formula 3 Championship, ART Grand Prix (first year)
Gabriele Mini, FIA Formula 3 Championship, Hitech Grand Prix (first year)
Matheus Ferreira, Italian Formula 4 Championship, Van Amersfoort Racing (first year)
Abbi Pulling, F1 Academy (first year)
Aiden Neate
Kean Nakamura, European Karting, Kart Republic (second year)