Six-podium F1 team could take ‘wildcard’ approach to 2025 season as boss looks to attract buyers

The 2025 Formula 1 season will be the last with the current line-up. There will be at least two major changes to the composition of the grid for 2026.

The first, and the most significant, is the arrival of Cadillac. The General Motors brand are to become the sport’s 11th team after reaching an agreement with F1 bosses.

Many may also view Audi as a new outfit, but they’re taking over from the Sauber team. With an engine already in development, the German giants will set up a works operation.

For a time, it looked as if the Andretti-Cadillac enterprise may be forced to buy an existing team. F1 initially rejected their proposal.

But Cadillac have now removed any mention of ‘Andretti’ from their branding, which makes them a more attractive commercial proposition. Alpine were a potential takeover target if a back-up plan was needed.

Elsewhere, there are murmurs that Toyota could look to acquire Haas. They have returned to F1 as technical partners of the American outfit, but it’s unclear if Gene Haas would entertain any offer.

Flavio Briatore knows Alpine could tee up lucrative sale with top-four finish in 2025

Alpine have publicly denied that they are for sale, but rumours continue to persist. Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Viaplay commentator Nelson Valkenburg relayed the theory that Renault CEO Luca de Meo brought in Flavio Briatore to oversee the team’s sale.

Briatore acts as an advisor to De Meo and effectively oversees the big picture at Enstone. Team principal Oliver Oakes then runs the team day-to-day.

In 2025, every team will be splitting their resources with a view to the major 2026 F1 regulation changes. But Valkenburg suggested that Alpine could go all-in on the season ahead.

Briatore knows that a top-four finish could catch the eye of potential buyers. While the team may suffer next year as a result, that wouldn’t be ‘his problem’.

Valkenburg said: “My wildcard in this is Alpine, because if it’s true that Flavio Briatore has a mandate to sell that team, a tremendous ’25 is the best selling point he could have.

“If he comes out of the block fighting with the team the way it has developed in the last half of the ’24 season, and they sniff a possibility to get fourth in the constructors’ for instance, you know he’s going to go for it, take that as proof of concept and say ‘look what my team is worth’, no matter what the collateral is down the line for the ’26 car. Because that won’t be his problem anymore.”

READ MORE: Who is Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore? Everything to know: Six-podium F1 team could take ‘wildcard’ approach to 2025 season as boss looks to attract buyers

Alpine finished sixth in 2024, more than 400 points behind fourth-place Mercedes. However, a double podium in Brazil (which took them to six overall) sparked an encouraging late-season run.

Pierre Gasly qualified in the top five for the Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix and scored 33 points in the last four rounds to surge from 16th to 10th in the championship. If Alpine take the risk of prioritising 2025, then they could be a surprise package.

Flavio Briatore’s sly dig at Carlos Sainz after Alpine negotiations fell through

Alpine could become Hitech-Mercedes from 2026, based on rumours earlier this year. Significantly, Oakes founded the team, who compete in the junior categories as well as F1 Academy.

The engine deal with Mercedes, which begins next year, arguably makes the team more attractive. The Silver Arrows are industry leaders for power units, and it will be more cost-effective than producing them in-house.

A line-up of Gasly and Carlos Sainz could have been even more enticing. However, Briatore was critical of Sainz in a recent interview, revealing that he wouldn’t commit long-term even though ‘none of the top teams took him’.