Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore claims that the team should be winning races in 2026 and fighting for the Formula 1 championship title in 2027.
The Italian returned to the sport in the summer of 2024. Although he was previously banned from F1 following the infamous ‘crashgate’ at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Briatore’s ban was overturned in 2010, allowing him to make a comeback.
Alpine has seen plenty of change in recent years. Otmar Szafnauer, who joined the team from Aston Martin in 2022, was ousted from his role as team principal in July 2023 during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. During the same weekend, sporting director Alan Permane and chief technical officer Pat Fry were also announced as leaving the team. Bruno Famin stepped into the team chief role in the interim.
A year later, at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, the French team announced that Famin was leaving his role as team principal and be replaced by Oliver Oakes.
Now, with Oakes and Briatore working together, the team is finding some stability.
During an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Briatore explained that 2025 is important for the team to prepare for the regulation changes in 2026 when he feels they should start standing on the top step of the podium. He commented:
“This season is important because we need preparing ourselves for 2026 when we need to start winning races.
“In ’26 we have the Mercedes engine and, in the meantime, we need to fit in more people with experience in our team. It is the same as at Benetton, people said it was a joke because we were a t-shirt maker but after we started winning some races, everybody wanted to come to the team, people started paying attention. In the same way as Renault.
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal Alpine F1 Team, Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor, Alpine F1
Photo by: Alpine
“If everybody is working together, I believe in 2026 it is possible to be winning races and in 2027 fighting for the championship.”
The Enstone outfit enters 2025 with a new driver lineup. French driver Pierre Gasly, who has been with the team since 2023, will be joined by rookie driver Jack Doohan. The Australian driver has been part of the Alpine Academy since 2022 and took on the role of reserve driver in 2023. The team has also signed Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver following his impressive debut with Williams at the end of 2024.
The 2025 F1 season will kick off with the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16.
Click here to read the full interview with Flavio Briatore.
