There is unrest in the Formula 1 racing team Alpine. Completely surprisingly, team boss Oliver Oakes resigns. His successor is an old acquaintance.
Flavio Briatore is once again team boss in Formula 1. Michael Schumacher’s former boss from Benetton’s times will take over the Alpine racing team in the future. The team announced this on Tuesday. This will the 75-year-old Italian successor to Oliver Oakes, who surprisingly explained his resignation. Briatore has been a consultant for the team since last year.
“The BWT Alpine Formula 1 team announces that Oliver Oakes has resigned from his role as team boss,” says an official message from the racing team. The team accepted its resignation with immediate effect. “As of today, Flavio Briatore will continue in his function as a consultant and also cover the duties that were previously carried out by Oliver Oakes,” it continues. The team thank you Oakes for his commitment and will not comment on the situation. The team did not give one reason for the resignation of the team leader.
Briatore has a long history in Formula 1. Already in the 1990s he celebrated two World Cup titles with Michael Schumacher at Benetton. In the mid-2000s, he added two more titles to the Renault team and with the driver Fernando Alonso. However, Briatore is also controversial: after a scandal in which he proves one of his drivers at the Singapore race in 2008, to be on purpose to build an accident, Briatore flew from Formula 1. But his spell was finally lifted again. Last year he returned to Alpine as a consultant and is now moving further.
For alpine pilot Jack Doohan, this should be bad news. The Australian only took over this season as a regular pilot next to Pierre Gasly with the French team. So far, however, he has not been able to convince and did not get a single point yet.