Alpine sign water company BWT as F1 title sponsors

Formula One team Alpine have signed Austrian water technology company BWT as their new title sponsor, the French squad said on Friday.

The Renault-owned team will incorporate BWT's pink colour scheme into its traditional blue as part of the deal starting this season and will be renamed the BWT Alpine F1 Team, it said in a statement.

The long-term agreement will also involve Alpine and BWT working together to “spread the message of sustainability around the world utilising the combined global platforms of Formula One and the automotive industry,” the pair added.

It will include the setting up of bottle-free zones at Alpine's factories and at races as part of eliminating single-use plastics.

BWT previously sponsored rivals Aston Martin, with the partnership going back to the team's Racing Point and Force India days.

The Silverstone-based outfit last week announced the signing of Saudi energy giant Aramco as their joint title partners.

BWT's tie-up with Alpine, whose drivers are double world champion Fernando Alonso and Frenchman Esteban Ocon, had been expected for some time.

Aston Martin's former team principal Otmar Szafnauer who left the team in January has also been linked with a move to the French manufacturer.

Alpine finished fifth in the overall standings last year, with Ocon handing the team their first win since 2013, and are hoping to move up the field this season.

They are set to unveil their new car, designed to radically overhauled regulations aimed at improving wheel-to-wheel racing, on February 21 before the record 23-race season gets under way in Bahrain on March 20.