Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds 'playing 4D chess' with latest business move ahead of F1 Belgian GP

Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds has created another business opportunity ahead of this weekend's F1 Belgian Grand Prix.

Reynolds took over Wrexham alongside fellow Hollywood star Rob McElhenney in 2021.

Together, the pair have helped the Red Dragons to two consecutive promotions, and they will play in League One this season.

But football is not the only sport that Reynolds has dipped his toe into.

Last year, an investment group that featured himself, McElhenney and a number of other sporting and celebrity stars bought a minority 24 per cent stake in the Alpine F1 Team.

Rory McIlroy, Anthony Joshua and Trent Alexander-Arnold were later named as being part of the group.

While Alpine haven't exactly had huge amounts of success on the track this season - they had the slowest car in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, but are now beginning to fight for regular points - there has been success for its ownership group off the track.

According to Joe Pompliano, Alpine's valuation has increased from $900 million to $1.1 billion over the last 12 months.

And the car will debut a special livery at Spa-Franchorchamps which will showcase Deadpool & Wolverine, the upcoming Marvel blockbuster that Reynolds stars in.

Pompliano claims that the '4D chess move' could result in the advertisement being seen by 75 million people as the film attempts to break the opening weekend box office record of $170 million.

Twitter/@JoePompliano

Reynolds and co will hope that Alpine get regular screen time - but for all the right reasons.

In Monaco, drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were involved in a first-lap crash that caused Ocon to retire from the race, and the incident dominated the back pages on the following day.

At the most recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Gasly qualified last and started from the pit lane for the second consecutive race weekend. Unlike at Silverstone, the Frenchman did start the race, but retired on lap 33.

Ocon, meanwhile, finished second-last of the finishers in 18th place in Hungary, after a 16th place finish at Silverstone.