Alpine To Run Deadpool Livery In Latest Entry Into History Of F1 Movie Tie-Ins

There's only one Grand Prix left before Formula 1's summer break, and it's fan favorite: the Belgian Grand Prix at the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamp.

However, when you're watching the race don't try to spot Alpine's signature blue and pink livery hanging around the fringes of the points-paying positions (an improvement over their start to the season. Yikes), because the French team will use a very special one-off livery inspired comic book character Deadpool to promote the upcoming movie, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Now, there's a reason that Alpine is helping to promote the latest flick featuring the Merc with a Mouth, and that's because Deadpool himself, actor Ryan Reynolds, is an investor (kind of) in the team.

It's a great look (although I feel like you're playing with fire when you go with a mostly red livery; Ferrari has kind of mastered that) and the latest example of an F1 team helping to promote a new movie.

I expect we'll see this again when Brad Pitt's F1 hits theaters next year, but in the meantime, let's take a walk down memory lane at some of the past F1/Hollywood tie-ins.

Jaguar drivers Christian Klein and Mark Webber pose with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon ahead of the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix which the team used to help promote <i>Ocean's 12</i>.  (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Jaguar Racing And The Lost Ocean's 12 Diamond

Speaking of Brad Pitt, another one of his flicks got the F1 treatment in 2004, and it has one of the wildest stories in the sport's history attached to it.

I love Ocean's 11, but can't stand Ocean's 12 primarily because the part where they have Julia Roberts' character pose as Julia Roberts is one of the stupidest, most ham-handed winks to the audience I've ever seen.

However, despite my distaste for it, you may recall that the plot centers around stealing a Fabergé egg, and part of the film was shot in Monaco at the Monte Carlo Casino.

So, partnering with an F1 team seemed like a great idea, and that team was Jaguar Racing. 

The promotional plan that the Jaguar and Ocean's folks hatched involved embedding real, very expensive diamonds in the nose of both of the team's cars, one driven by Mark Webber by Christian Klein.

See that expensive diamond embedded in the front of Jaguar's cars for the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix? Yeah, one of them is still missing. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

However, on the first lap of the race, Klein crashed nose-first at the Hotel hairpin. Of course, item number one was to make sure that pricey diamond was accounted for, but it was gone and has never been recovered.

Things didn't work out much better for Webber as he retired from the race with a gearbox issue after only 11 laps.

George Lucas is problem thinking, "Now <i>this </i>is Formula 1 racing!" in this photo. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Red Bull Goes To A Galaxy Far, Far Away

2004 was Jaguar's last season in F1 and ahead of the 2005 season, Ford (which owned the Jaguar brand at the time) sold the team to Red Bull.

The powers that be at Red Bull decided that they would follow the old Jaguar outfit's lead and do their own Hollywood tie-in at Monaco in 2005, just one yard after the diamond mishap.

This time, Red Bull partnered with Lucasfilm (George Lucas is a big F1 Guy, by the way)to promote Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, inarguably the best of the prequel films.

While the livery wasn't stellar, what was fantastic was the decision to throw Red Bull's pit crew in special uniforms that made them look like Stormtroopers.

I mean, c'mon. How cool is this?! (DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)

David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi were the wheelmen for the team, and as cool as the promotional push was, the early days of Red Bull weren't much better than the late part of the Jaguar era, as both drivers crashed out of the race.

Martin, Aston Martin

Sure, there was a time when he was wheeling around in BMWs, but no car brand is more synonymous with James Bond than Aston Martin.

So, when it was time to promote Daniel Craig's 007 swan song, 2021's No Time To Die, Aston Martin slapped a big ol' decal on the side of their British racing green livery (which had pink accents that made it look a little too watermelon-y for my tastes).

Aston Martin hit the track at Monza in 2021 with a 007 decal on the side of their debut car, the AMR 0. (Photo by Clive Mason - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

4-time champ Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll had the honor of driving those 007 Aston Martins, but that wasn't the first time there was a dash of Bond on an F1 car. Both finished just outside the points with Vettel in P11 and Stroll in P12.

Just two years earlier — would you believe? — Red Bull also threw a 007 decal on their cars for the British Grand Prix in 2019 with Daniel Craig even being on hand to check it out.

Daniel Craig checks out Red Bull's RB15 complete with 007 decal. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

That was because, at the time, Aston Martin hadn't gotten fully into F1 and was one of Red Bull's major sponsors. Drivers Pierre Gasly (who will be one of the fellas in the Deadpool livery this weekend) and Max Verstappen finished in P4 and P5 respectively, making those the only points finishes of any of the liveries we've talked about.