Flavio Briatore, an advisor to Alpine Formula 1, believes the team has suffered from poor management in recent years.

Briatore spoke publicly for the first time about his vision for the team and his assessment of why Renault’s works team had slipped down the team rankings, pointing to the blame lying with the previous leaders.

And that, he says, is one of the main reasons why he quickly changed the top position within the squad and brought in Oliver Oakes as new team boss before the summer break.

“There was no management,” Briatore said when asked why Alpine has declined in Formula 1.

“I think Alpine’s problem was this. At some point I think they chose some wrong managers. I think the list of wrong managers was quite long. We don’t have a list of good ones.

“And it’s difficult to manage in Enstone. Enstone is a big team, a big monster, you know. You have to be there. It’s very difficult to manage a team like Alpine from Paris or anywhere else. You need the presence, the daily presence.”

Alpine and Renault have endured a tumultuous period of late, with three team bosses in just over 12 months. Oakes has taken over from Bruno Famin, who himself replaced Otmar Szafnauer after last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Briatore is confident that the 36-year-old Oakes will bring an invaluable dose of youthful enthusiasm and give Enstone a new lease of life.

“Ollie is enthusiastic, young, ambitious: that’s what we need in the team,” Briatore said. “To turn this team around, you need young people, you need people with a lot of passion for the job.

“People understand the good, not the bad. People (have to) understand what happens in the factory. People (have to) understand what happens in the race. So, this is the principle, you know. He has no experience with a big team like this, but (he has) the talent to be successful.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal Alpine F1 Team

Photo by: Alpine

Oakes said that based on his initial impressions over the past few weeks, he felt there was still a lot of untapped potential in the squad.

“I think Enstone firstly has something that money can’t buy: it has a racing spirit and a history,” he said.

“You can’t help but go around and find that which helps you with enormous passion to make the place where it belongs.

“I dare say it’s been badly managed for a number of years, and I think it’s easy to blame someone. We’ve talked a lot in the past. A bit frustrating, it’s not my style.

“But I really think we just need to get back to focusing on racing. And I think the people there, we’ve got some great people there. It’s not the people’s fault, it’s the leadership’s fault for that.

“I think I’m in a lucky position. It’s a great team. There are many things to do, but it’s really simple: we need a better car and we need everyone to work together.”

Briatore tornado

Briatore has been evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of Alpine’s operations over the past few months and has so far come to the realization that a major reorganization is needed.

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor, Alpine F1

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“You have to revitalize the system. We have to do the electric shock,” he said.

Oakes added: “I call it the Flavio tornado… But while he is confident Alpine can achieve success in the future, Briatore is cautious about setting overly ambitious targets – he believes podiums will not be possible until 2027.

“I’m telling you to be realistic,” said the Italian. “We want to look at podiums in 2027. The situation we have is not ideal.

“I tell you the truth, F1 is very, very difficult at the moment because the competition is very tough. We have six, seven teams that are very good for F1. So many teams have the possibility to win.

“We have to be ready to beat this competition. But to beat this competition, we have to work hard. We need the right driver, the right team, the right technical director, the right manager. Everything has to work.”