F1
Alpine hand power over to Briatore
The French team confirms the incorporation of the Italian as executive consultant. He was head of Enstone during the glory days of Schumacher and Alonso.
It was expected and now it’s official: Alpine confirmed the incorporation of Flavio Briatore as the team’s new executive advisor. Briatore has been drafted in on the express wishes of Renault group CEO Luca de Meo - his tasks in his new role will be centered around the search for new talent, studying the driver market, the review of the team’s structure and other strategic issues in the sport.
Briatore’s appointment was formally announced early on Friday, although on Thursday night it was already a rumor that was too intense in the paddock to not be true.
Who is Flavio Briatore?
Briatore is a 74-year-old Italian billionaire who made his fortune with the commercial development of the textile industry in North America (and now runs restaurants and clubs). In Formula 1, he was promoted from commercial director to Benetton team manager and was directly responsible for the signing of Michael Schumacher (1991), a fundamental part of the championship-winning team with the ‘Kaiser’ in 1994 and 1995, and again ‘main team’ in the glory years era of Renault and Alonso (2005 and 2006). After the controversy at Singapore 2008 (he was accused of ordering Nelsinho Piquet to cause an accident to facilitate the victory of the other Renault driven by Fernando), the FIA suspended Briatore “for life” from F1.
However, the courts forced the FIA to retract and withdraw the severe sanction against the Italian, who in recent years has been an ambassador for F1 and responsible for some agreements such as the Azerbaijan GP, just as he remains one of the people of Alonso’s confidence when talking with teams and evaluating alternatives.
Alpine is in crisis - that’s a fact. On the sporting side, the results are just not there and the A524 is a clear step backwards. Renault’s power unit is the weakest on the current grid and it is also a strong rumor, as was Briatore’s, that they are studying not manufacturing their own engines by 2026 and becoming a customer team. Ocon is left out of the team and they need a driver.
It is in Gasly’s hands to continue beyond 2025, although the Frenchman is not entirely thrilled with the lack of competitiveness either. The staff has changed enormously in just four years. Little remains in terms of leaders of the team that returned Alonso to F1 in 2021 and that won the Hungarian GP with Esteban. Bruno Famin is the ‘main team’, with experience in Peugeot and the FIA. They are eighth in the constructors’ standings, they were sixth in 2023 (with podiums included). But now, Briatore returns to Enstone.