Alpine F1 team principal, Oliver Oakes, is discovering that the change he wants within the team can’t happen as quickly he needs.
Having taken over the reins at Alpine, Oakes heads up a team that’s been plagued by inconsistency, sitting in 9th place in the Constructors’ Championship, and he has a lot of work to do to boost the team’s performance.
As the founder and former team principal of Hitech GP, Oakes is no stranger to high-pressure motorsport environments, after leading junior category teams to victory.
A former World Karting Champion and Red Bull junior driver, Oakes drove in the motorsport world before turning to team management. Under his leadership, Hitech GP became incredibly competitive in Formula 2 and Formula 3, aiding drivers like George Russell, Liam Lawson, and 2025 Alpine driver Jack Doohan.
“It is a big job, I knew that before I took it… I think there’s good and bad in that,“ Oakes said.
“I think the bad bit is there’s a lot to do and you’re kind of straight in after the shutdown, but I think the good is there are also things you can improve upon quickly.“
Alpine’s current struggles in 2024, from poor qualifying performances to repeated leadership changes, show that team development takes time.
Oakes succeeds Bruno Famin, who stepped down as team principal after less than a year in the role. This constant change in leadership is one of the major challenges the team faces in restoring stability.
With support from Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo and F1 veteran Flavio Briatore, the team have a bright future ahead of them, but still a long way to get there.
“You’ve got to have patience and also build trust,” Oakes claimed.
“I think, at the moment, there’s nothing that’s going to change drastically between now and the end of the year. I think the real journey is sort of how we go through these next phases.”
Alpine’s drivers, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, are struggling to get to grips with the car, but Oakes has praised their resilience.
“They’re both, from my point of view anyway, good to work with, massively professional.” he said.
“There’s never any concerns over them being motivated. I think obviously they get frustrated, as I would. You don’t want to be cruising around on Sunday with nothing to fight for at the moment.”
The real journey is going to be how they go through these next phases and prepare for the seasons ahead. With the 2025 season on the horizon, the team’s immediate goals are gradual improvements, with a more substantial change expected when the new technical regulations come into effect in 2026.
That shift could offer Alpine the fresh start it desperately needs, but in the meantime, Oakes is keeping his expectations realistic.
“I’m definitely confident because we need to work hard and we haven’t forgot how to build a good race car. But I do think where we are now, we know we need to improve at the end of the day.”
The 36-year-old is confident that the team has the talent and resources to make those improvements, but he is wary of making promises in a sport as erratic as F1.
“You’ve always got to be confident,” he said. “F1 though, it is complex, isn’t it?“
