Formula 1 Dutch GP

Briatore says "wrong managers" hurt Alpine's F1 fortunes

Flavio Briatore feels that leadership problems were the trigger for Alpine’s struggles in F1, as he explains the reasons for new arrival Oliver Oakes

Jonathan Noble

Edited: Aug 24, 2024, 12:30 PM

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Oliver Oakes, Team Principal Alpine F1 Team, Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor, Alpine F1

Photo by: Alpine

Alpine Formula 1 advisor Flavio Briatore thinks the team's fortunes suffered in recent years because the wrong management was in place.

Speaking for the first time in public about his vision for the squad and verdict on why Renault's works team has slipped down the order, Briatore pointed to prior leadership being to blame.

And this factor he says is one of the chief reasons that he made a quick move to overhaul the top position at the squad, bringing in Oliver Oakes as new team principal before the summer break.

"There was no management," said Briatore when asked for his explanation as to why Alpine has gone backwards in F1.

"I believe the problem of Alpine was this one. At one point, I believe they chose a few wrong managers. I think the list of the wrong ones was quite long. We have no list of the good ones.

"And it is difficult to manage in Enstone. Enstone is a big team, a big monster, you know. You need to be there. It's very difficult to manage one team like Alpine from Paris or from another place. You need the presence, daily presence."

Alpine and Renault have endured a tumultuous recent period, with it having three team bosses in just more than 12 months. Oakes has taken over from Bruno Famin, who himself replaced Otmar Szafnauer after last year's Belgian Grand Prix.

Briatore believes that Oakes, who is 36, will bring an invaluable injection of youthful enthusiasm to help add a missing spark at Enstone.

"Ollie is enthusiastic, young, ambitious: that's what we need in the team," said Briatore. "To turn around this team, you need the young people, you need the people with a lot of passion for the job.

"The people understand the good ones, not the bad ones. The people [need to] understand what's going on in the factory. The people [need to] understand what's going on in the race. So, this is the principle, you know. He has no experience of a big team like this one, but [he has] the talent to be successful."

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Alpine

Oakes said that he felt there was huge untapped potential at the squad based on his first impressions over recent weeks.

"I think first, Enstone has something which money can't buy: it has a racing spirit, it has a history," he said.

"You can't help but go round and find that something that just gives massive passion to making the place where it should be.

"I dare say it's been mismanaged for quite a few years, and I think it is easy to point the blame. We've done a lot of talking in the past. Bit frustrating, it's not my style.

"But I think genuinely we just have to get back to focusing on racing. And I think the people there, we have some amazing people there. It's not the fault of the people, it's the fault of the leadership before.

"I think I'm in a lucky position. It's a great team. There are lots of things to do, but actually it's very simple: we need a better car, and we need to get everybody working together."

Briatore tornado

Briatore has spent the last few months evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of Alpine's operation, and has been left in no doubt that it needs a shake-up.

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor, Alpine F1

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

"You need to revitalise the system. We need doing the electric shock," he said.

Oakes added: "I call it the Flavio tornado..."

But while sure that Alpine can deliver success in the future, Briatore is cautious about setting too ambitious targets – with podiums only possible from 2027 he believes.

"I tell you to be realistic," said the Italian. "We want to look for some podiums in 2027. The situation we have is not ideal.

"I tell you the truth, F1 is very, very difficult in this moment, because the competition is very hard. We have six, seven teams very good for F1. So many teams have the possibility to win.

"We need to be ready to beat this competition. But to beat this competition, we need [to be] working hard. We need the right driver, the right team, the right technical director, the right manager. The right everything needs to be working."

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