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F1 team Alpine sign football legend Zinedine Zidane
The F1 team have signed the former France player as an ambassador: “I want to exchange ideas with Gasly and Ocon, I’m very excited.”
The A523 had already been presented, but the star of the night was not the car, which was outshone by Alpine’s other announcement: Zinedine Zidane’s announcement as team ambassador. “I can transfer my experience to these young talents, because it is valuable. When I was a child I was given an opportunity, and it meant a lot to me.
In a mechanical sport like Formula 1, we say that we will give young people the opportunity to be mechanic or engineer: I’m interested in that. It is a very exciting project and I want to have an exchange of ideas with Pierre (Gasly) and Esteban (Ocon)”, said the ex-footballer and coach, who was visibly shy during the presentation. He spoke in his native language to a majority British audience, saying “my English is very bad,” to those watching.
Zidane and his passion for cars
He was introduced by Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, and he was showered with praise: “Zinedine is an ambassador who will bring us much more than we can imagine. He will mix his passion for cars and his values, which will contribute to the company.”
He is involved in the green transition of cars and has the awareness to help us at Alpine, with the electric A110, and that is very important to us. It’s really fantastic.” Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, also celebrated the signing: “Imagining that I was going to be at the presentation of the car with Zinedine Zidane is a dream. It’s also my mother’s birthday, she’s 85 years old!”