Flavio Briatore made a decision at the Monaco Grand Prix which proves just how bad Alpine’s F1 problems have got

Alpine have failed to score points during six of the first eight race weekends of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Pierre Gasly scored six points at the Bahrain Grand Prix after a fantastic battle with Max Verstappen that ran right until the final lap.

The French driver then snuck into the top eight during the Sprint Race in Miami after several drivers were penalised ahead of him, but since then, Alpine’s campaign has gone from bad to worse.

Former team principal Oliver Oakes resigned after the race in Miami and Jack Doohan lost his race seat to Franco Colapinto less than 24 hours later.

This has left Flavio Briatore taking an even greater role within the team, with Dave Greenwood temporarily taking over some responsibilities from Oakes.

Briatore has praised Colapinto since he replaced Doohan but will expect the Argentine to start contributing points sooner rather than later.

Gasly has been impressed by Briatore since he arrived at the team, but the experienced Italian may have taken on more than he bargained for during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Flavio Briatore was deciding Alpine’s tyre strategy during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying

Journalist Tom Clarkson was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast about another troubling weekend for Alpine.

He explained: “They’re a team that really needs a new team principal.

“The team actually told me that Flavio Briatore was the one deciding the tyre strategy for qualifying.

“Flav has many qualities, but I’m not sure tyre strategy is one of them, and it just makes me feel that they are a team in transition and they really, really need a new team principal.

“I know that Flavio has spoken to some of what I call his old guard, people who have worked with him before, about coming back into Enstone in that role.

“He’s yet to choose someone. You can’t have Flav choosing the tyre strategy. You need a team principal who can stand up to Flav and say, Flav, deal with Luca de Meo, bring in the money, I’ll run the racing team.”

READ MORE: Who is Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore? Everything to know

Alpine might have already missed out on their best team principal option to replace Oliver Oakes

It was telling that Gasly and Colapinto, who qualified 18th and 20th before grid penalties were applied, were two of the only drivers who were initially sent out on the medium compound.

It was a tactic that worked well for Aston Martin at the previous race in Imola, but both Alpine racers were eventually forced to switch to the soft tyres although it wasn’t enough to see either of them progress to Q2.

Gasly’s race was ended by a collision with Yuki Tsunoda, while Colapinto got trapped in the train of cars behind, held up by the Racing Bulls and Williams pairs.

Luca de Meo says he has no intention of selling Alpine, but they need to get their act together quickly to avoid falling into the same trap as Sauber at the bottom of the constructors’ championship.

Otherwise, they may be forced to look for outside investment. The first step they need to take is to find a new team principal, however, Clarkson believes they’ve already missed out on the perfect candidate.

He explained: “Actually, do you know who I think would have been absolutely perfect for the team principal role at Enstone? Jonathan Wheatley.

“He knows the team inside out, he was there for years. He knows Flavio, he’s won world championships with Flavio. He would have been able to deal with him, but of course, he’s now pulling up trees for Audi and doing a great job at Sauber, so he’s not available.

“But they do need a team principal, I feel.”

Alpine are verging on a crisis with an unstable driver line-up and a lack of leadership at the top of the team.

Stability is crucial to success in Formula 1 and it doesn’t feel like Alpine are close to achieving that right now.