Since May, Flavio Briatore has been serving as an advisor at Alpine. With his extensive history in the premier class, the former Renault team boss is of invaluable worth to the French racing stable. Team boss Oliver Oakes now reveals the exact role Briatore plays within Alpine.
Oliver Oakes has been at the helm of Alpine since 2024, succeeding Bruno Famin in July. However, the 36-year-old Brit is not alone, and can particularly rely on the support of advisor Flavio Briatore. The Italian businessman has a long history in Formula 1, and therefore plays a significant role within the French team. Oakes now reveals exactly what that role is.
“Flavio is above everyone,” the team boss tells PlanetF1. “He’s been everywhere, done everything, got the T-shirt and I think it’s very clear that there’s alignment between me, Flavio and Luca (de Meo, Renault CEO). The three of us are in everything together. There’s no power play, it’s really transparent and I think that’s probably something that was missing before.””The three top executives at Alpine divide the work at the racing stable, in the same way that CEO Zak Brown and team boss Andrea Stella successfully do at McLaren. “It’s not a one-man show,” Oakes continues. “I think it’s not just at the top, me, Flavio, and Luca. There are two or three more under me who are also part of that leadership group. That’s exactly what’s needed to have a strong team and everyone working together.”
Comparisons with Marko and Horner
Oakes himself also sees similarities between his relationship with Briatore and that between Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and team boss Christian Horner. “I think there’s a bit of that. Many people always want to talk about the similarities between me and Christian, Helmut and Flavio. They’ve been a very successful organization at Red Bull. There are probably a number of similarities and we are also different. What works somewhere doesn’t always work elsewhere,” concludes Oakes.
