Flavio Briatore is not being recognised by the FIA as the team principal of the Alpine team at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, it has emerged.

It comes despite Alpine announcing that Briatore will cover “the duties previously performed” by Oliver Oakes, who recently departed his role as team boss.

FIA does not recognise Flavio Briatore as Alpine team principal

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Alpine confirmed that Oakes had resigned from his position as team principal in the aftermath of the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month, with it soon emerging that the development came following the arrest of his brother.

Oakes’s exit saw Briatore, who previously led the Enstone team to World Championship success with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso before rejoining as an executive adviser last summer, reassume many of the responsibilities associated with the role of a team principal.

However, it has emerged that Briatore is not seen as the man in charge of Alpine by the FIA as he is technically not a member of staff and does not possess an F1 licence, which is required for figures of authority to be included in the governing body’s staff registration system.

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Instead, racing director Dave Greenwood, who served as Kimi Raikkonen’s race engineer at Ferrari between 2014 and 2018, is being regarded as Alpine’s ‘dedicated responsible person’ at Imola.

As reported by PlanetF1.com in March, Greenwood joined Alpine at the start of F1 2025 after a spell at Hitech GP, the junior racing team founded by Oakes.

In a short statement issued to PlanetF1.com, Alpine said: “Dave Greenwood, who is Racing Director, now for administrative purposes will also be the ‘dedicated responsible person’ according to the rules.

“Flavio is otherwise covering the duties previously performed by Oli.”

An FIA spokesperson told PlanetF1.com: “Alpine have complied with all regulatory requirements relating to the departure of Mr Oakes, and have submitted their updated staff registration.

“We believe it is down to Alpine to provide an update on their management structure so we will not comment on any specific person holding a certificate of registration.”

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will see Franco Colapinto make his Alpine debut after replacing Jack Doohan.

Colapinto initially joined Alpine as a reserve driver for F1 2025 after an impressive nine-race stint for Williams in the second half of last season.

However, Colapinto has been signed to a deal of just five races with the Argentina star’s position set to be reviewed ahead of the British Grand Prix in July.

Reports last week claimed that Alpine have held talks with Sergio Perez, the former Red Bull driver.

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