Flavio Briatore’s arrival at Alpine brought about excitement for the team’s future but also an element of controversy surrounding their driver line-up.
The former Benetton and Renault team principal returned to Enstone in June 2024 as an executive advisor. It marked a return to F1 after he was banned from the sport in the wake of the 2008 Crashgate scandal.
Briatore has joined Alpine behind the scenes in what is a transition period for the team. With Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan as their drivers, 2025 will be the final year the Enstone outfit will run as a factory team before switching to Mercedes engines in 2026.
Alpine secured sixth in the constructors’ championship in 2024 after a double podium in Sao Paulo – they had scored only 14 points before that race. The Enstone squad look to have improved their machinery in 2025, even if they are the only team not to score a point so far.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
78 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
57 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
36 |
| 4 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 5 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
17 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
14 |
| 7 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
10 |
| 8 |
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber |
6 |
| 9 |
Racing Bulls |
3 |
| 10 |
Alpine F1 Team |
0 |
Gasly reached Q3 in Melbourne, having started at the back in last year’s season opener. While he finished P11 and was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for being underweight, encouraging signs are there at Alpine.
Briatore will have had a hand to play in that, given his constant drive for success. Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast, Gasly has shared what has ‘impressed’ him most about working with the Italian.
Pierre Gasly has been ‘impressed’ by how curious Flavio Briatore is – Jack Doohan will not agree
As well as being a team principal, Briatore has been heavily involved with drivers behind the scenes in F1. He has acted as Fernando Alonso’s manager since 1999.
The 74-year-old has already had an impact on drivers at Alpine. Briatore played a key role in signing Franco Colapinto from Williams as a reserve driver on a multi-year deal.
The Italian’s curiosity about how drivers think is what has ‘impressed’ Gasly the most while working with him. However, teammate Doohan will not think the same given the pressure that Briatore is placing upon him.
The Aussie is already at threat of losing his seat despite only racing three Grand Prix with Alpine. Doohan allegedly has a six-race contract, with Colapinto being tipped to replace him before the summer break.
Asked if Briatore understands how drivers think, Gasly replied: “It does, but I will say because he’s got that quality of being interested and being curious about it. So he’ll talk and he’ll ask questions to kind of get a read and kind of scan, okay, like in what space are you and what ad space are you in?
“I’ve been quite impressed in how much he knows, but then I realised just, you know, hanging out with him and spending more time with him that he’s actually curious about many, many different topics.
“And that’s how he has so much knowledge about, you know, various subjects. So yeah, he does understand racing drivers. He does understand the competitiveness.”
READ MORE: Alpine driver Pierre Gasly’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
Can Jack Doohan do enough to convince Flavio Briatore to keep Franco Colapinto on the sidelines?
It would be fair to assume that Doohan’s relationship with Briatore is a frosty one given how much of a fan the latter is of Colapinto. The Argentine’s long-term contract and heavy price tag from Williams indicates he is a driver Alpine will not want on the sidelines much longer.
Doohan is under immense pressure to save his F1 career from Colapinto, as well as Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa and Kush Maini, who have all joined as reserve drivers. Jolyon Palmer slammed Alpine for signing four reserve drivers for 2025 – but Colapinto is the most likely to land a seat.
Many think Alpine’s decision on the Aussie’s future is already decided. Journalist Nate Saunders thinks Doohan will be out by Miami, giving him four more races to prove his worth.
There will certainly be performance clauses in his contract that will deny a switch if the 22-year-old meets them. Despite crashing in Melbourne and finishing out of the points in Shanghai, Doohan may be performing better than expected.
The Aussie has kept pace with teammate Gasly in the races and outperformed him in Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai. Doohan must match Gasly to save his seat – and that is what he is doing at the moment.
