Ryan Reynolds' F1 team finally gets good news after nightmare start to season and staff exits

Esteban Ocon recorded his first Formula 1 point of the season, finishing 10th at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.

Alpine have endured a nightmare start to the season and prior to Sunday's race neither Ocon or Gasly had earned a single point. Alpine were also one of three teams stuck at the bottom of the Constructors Standings on zero points, alongside Williams and Kick Sauber.

It comes after a sixth-place finish in the standings last season, regressing badly when the team looked to be doing the opposite. But the car that entered the 2024 season has been unable to compete to the standards many expected.

In the first race of the season at Bahrain, Ocon and Gasly had to settle for 17 and 18 respectively. It didn't get much better in the next race for Gasly, whose gearbox had issues and forced an early retirement from the race.

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In March, the team were then hit by the unexpected departures of technical director, Matt Harman, and head of aerodynamics, Dirk de Beer. The news was yet another setback to the team now part-owned by Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Joshua, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Rory McIlroy.

Places outside the points continued, with Ocon finishing 11th and Gasly 13th - a big improvement - at the recent Chinese Grand Prix. And then came the breakthrough at Miami. Ocon clinched 10th place after losing out in an intense battle for ninth with Fernando Alonso. Gasly, meanwhile, finished 12th.

Speaking after the race, Ocon said: "We can be pleased with that."

NFL stars Kelce and Mahomes were in attendance at the Miami GP to see their team finally pick up a point, which will come as light relief to them and their fellow celebrity owners. It was in October last year when it was confirmed the four sports icons would join Ryan Reynolds in a £171.5 million investment into the team.

Esteban Ocon picked up his first Formula 1 point of the season on Sunday

Discussing team morale in March, Ocon was honest about the situation. "We obviously know where we are," he said. "It’s not a situation that we are enjoying as a team. I think none of us, in Viry or Enstone, is enjoying struggling that much in the weekends.

"But it's a long season and obviously we are working towards trying to optimise the car, understand where our issues are and to turn things around hopefully. It's more simple to say than to make it, so until we make it, it's only words.

"But this is the aim that we have as a team, and we are not going to release the pressure on that until we get there. That's the aim out of everyone. The morale is good inside the team. Everyone's motivated and that's the most important at the moment."

The point at Miami on Sunday will no doubt boost moods both in the Alpine garage and for the drivers, as they look to kick on and put the beginning of the season behind them. Up next, is the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy in two weeks' time.