Flavio Briatore believes Alpine will be challenging for the F1 constructors’ title by 2027 under his leadership. The Italian detailed how his controversial return to the sport took shape 15 years after the ‘Crashgate’ race manipulation scandal was discovered, and how he shrugs off criticism by delivering on-track results based on his team management skills.
The 74-year-old was announced to be returning to F1 and to the Enstone-based squad last June, which brought its fair amount of public criticism since he was banned from working in F1 for several years after he admitted to be involved in the scandal that resulted in Nelson Piquet Jr. purposely crashing out of the 2008 Singapore GP, thus favouring team-mate Fernando Alonso with a timely safety car, allowing the Spaniard to win the race.
But Briatore’s proven track record of getting teams up to high standards in F1 proved enough for Alpine to bring him back in mid-2024.
The reasoning behind the return
Speaking to ‘Le Parisien’, Briatore revealed he was the one trying to find a way back to F1 at the start of the 2024 season, after seeing the disastrous first few races with an overweight car and a generally malfunctioning team fuelled his desire to return and bring the squad to “where it belongs”:
“Why not?,” he said when asked on the why he returned. “I was already present in the paddock as an F1 ambassador, and I wanted to get more involved. I had the energy and the time, especially since my son left for school. At the start of the season, Alpine wasn’t performing at the level it should.
“I called Luca de Meo and told him ‘It pains me to see my favorite team in this state.’
“We started discussing what could be done. Formula 1 has given me so much. I wanted to offer my services to restore the team’s image and bring it back to where it belongs. I want Alpine to become a true contender in F1 once again.”
The former Benetton and Renault team principal is not concerned about his critics for his involvement in the Singapore scandal, and instead said he is solely focused on delivering on-track results and wants to be judged upon his success in bringing the team forward:
“What always matters in F1 are the results. I want to be judged on my results. I came back to Formula 1 to win. I’m not here to play tourist. I’ve already travelled the world [many] times, that doesn’t interest me anymore.
“What excites me is seeing my team win the championship or fighting for it.”
A similar approach, 30 years later
But even with the focus completely on the performance side, Briatore’s job was from easy when he returned to team with which he won two championships in 2005 and 2006. The situation was completely different, with Alpine having a poorly-performing car (the worst on the grid in the season-opening Bahrain GP), driver tension between team-mates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly after their contentious clash at Monaco, and a generally misfiring team, to use F1 terms.
Despite so many changes since he last worked in F1, Briatore detailed his approach to things with Alpine is very similar to the one he used to bring Benetton to the top during the mid-1990s: recover team spirit and union, and putting the pieces in place for a brighter future – including the signing of a deal with Mercedes to become an engine customer from 2026 onwards.
“I arrived in June. We had two points in the championship. I started implementing the same approach I used at Benetton thirty years ago, that’s all.
“F1 has improved since then; we now race in different countries, and the market has expanded. But the competition between teams remains the same, nothing has changed.
“We re-focused on team spirit, we changed the team principal, bringing in Oliver Oakes. We also signed the agreement with Mercedes to use their engines [from 2026]. That’s what can help us return to the top level.”
Ambitions of fighting for the world championship in 2027
Briatore also revealed that the team can now have lofty ambitions for the not-so-distant future, as it targets to gradually improve over the next couple of years before it becomes a true Formula 1 title contender in the 2027 season – which marks a far clearer and more objective plan than the vague ‘100-race plan’ that was mentioned for several years at that team before his arrival – and revealed how the team has made significant progress for its 2025 challenger as well, putting it as much as “half-a-second” faster than its predecessor:
“Our goals are clear: always do better. In 2024, we finished sixth. That’s excellent news because it brings in significantly more money than a ninth-place finish.
“Next season, we need to finish fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of Aston Martin. By 2026, we must aim for podiums and victories. And in 2027, the title.
“For now, we’re on the right track. We haven’t just corrected our mistakes for 2024; we’ve already developed the car for 2025. We’ve improved the car by nearly half a second per lap.
“Looking ahead, we have a dedicated team working entirely on the 2026 car with the upcoming regulation changes. The employees are finally starting to believe in our project: competing for the World Championship in three years,” he said at the end of 2024.
“I have no doubt that we will deliver results. Zero doubt. We have everything we need to succeed: the support of the Renault Group, the engine, motivated employees.
“I know F1 well enough to recognise a team that’s going to work.”
