BWT Alpine Formula One Team has signed Valvoline as a new Global Team Partner in a multi-year deal announced ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. Valvoline branding will appear on the cars of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto from the Monza weekend on 4–6 September. Neither party disclosed the financial terms or the exact length of the agreement.
BWT Alpine Formula One Team and lubricants maker Valvoline have announced a new long-term strategic partnership that makes Valvoline a Global Team Partner of the Enstone-based squad. The deal is described as multi-year, and it expands what Valvoline calls its continued investment in Formula One.
[billed-url:2]
Branding debuts at Monza
The partnership was announced in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which runs from 4 to 6 September. Valvoline branding will feature on the cars of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto and across the wider team environment from that race weekend onwards.
The announcement covers branding and commercial rights rather than a technical supply arrangement; the release does not mention any lubricant or fluid supply to the team’s power unit or gearbox programme.
Two brands leaning on motorsport heritage
Valvoline Global Operations describes itself as America’s first branded motor oil, with a legacy spanning 160 years, customers in more than 140 countries and over 80,000 points of distribution. The company says the tie-up strengthens its engagement with Formula One’s global fanbase while creating new commercial opportunities with its own customers and partners. Valvoline Global is owned by Aramco.
Alpine, for its part, brings the history of the Enstone factory in Oxfordshire, which has been the team’s home since 1992 through its earlier identities as Benetton Formula, Renault F1 Team and Lotus F1 Team. The site counts seven Formula One world titles: Drivers’ championships in 1994, 1995, 2005 and 2006 with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, and Constructors’ championships in 1995, 2005 and 2006. Around 1,000 people work at Enstone, where the team’s 2026 car, the A526, is designed and built.
“Motorsports has been part of Valvoline’s DNA for more than a century, and Formula One represents one of the world’s most influential stages for performance, innovation, and competition. Our partnership with BWT Alpine Formula One Team reflects our continued investment in the sport and our commitment to connecting with fans and customers through world-class racing,” said Michael Kirtman, Chief Brand Officer at Valvoline Global Operations.
Guy Martin, Global Marketing Director at BWT Alpine Formula One Team, said the two companies share “a deep passion for innovation, engineering excellence, and competition”, adding that the team’s performance-driven environment “provides the perfect platform to push the boundaries of technology”.
What it means
For Alpine, a new global partner arriving mid-season adds commercial weight at a moment when the team is spending heavily on the 2026 rules reset, with the A526 built around Formula One’s new technical regulations across a 24-race calendar. For Valvoline, a livery presence on a full-season grid entry is a broad-reach marketing platform in a series whose audience sits well outside its traditional workshop and aftermarket customer base.
The company also points to a product range that now stretches beyond combustion engines to high-mileage and heavy-duty applications, electric vehicles and heat-transfer fluids for high-performance computing, which gives the sponsorship a wider remit than motor oil alone.
Facts: Alpine and Valvoline partnership
- Status: Global Team Partner of BWT Alpine Formula One Team
- Term: multi-year (exact duration not stated)
- First race with branding: Italian Grand Prix, Monza, 4–6 September
- Cars covered: Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, Alpine A526
- Financial terms: not disclosed
Valvoline branding appears on the Alpine cars for the first time at Monza this weekend.
Source: media.alpinecars.com