F1: Alpine has a armchair that does not find a fixed owner

Oliver Oakes is the new link in a high -command chain of the team that left their job, either by resignation or by the company’s decision.

The return of Franco Colapinto to Formula 1 as a starting pilot was raised by Alpine inside a corridor rotation panorama for the second armchair. After the six 2025 races made by Jack Doohan, Estone’s Team decided to upload the Argentine and put it under study in the next five major awards. The French team seems to have passed to the position of the runners a rotation policy that has been carrying out in the position of team director for 16 years. Who started the round? Yes, Flavio Briatore.

The Italian was dismissed by Renault in 2009 after the Crashgate of Singapore scandalWhen he sent Nelsinho Piquet to deliberately collide with a wall to favor Fernando Alonso’s strategy. The Magante had been as head of the Team for 19: from 1990 to 2001 as Benetton, a team that was acquired by the rhombus in 2002 and kept BriTore as Pope. After his shameful departure, Renault named Bob Bell. The Irishman was in office from September 2009 to the beginning of 2011, When he went to Mercedes. The place was taken by Éric Boullier, but everything lasted a year because Renault left the World Cup at the end of 2011.

The French hit the return as a comprehensive team in 2016, with Cyril Abiteboul as managing director. The Pope hired Frédéric Vasseur (today in Ferrari) as a team’s dietary, but was just a year, before giving up for discrepancies with his superior. Abiteboul then assumed the position for 2017, cape several storms and celebrated the podium that Daniel Ricciardo achieved in the 2020 Eifel GP (in the middle of the pandemic), which he cut with nine years without a rhombus representative at the podium ceremony. It seemed that things were aimed, but the changes continued. By 2021, Renautl’s parent company decided that all brand competition teams should be called Alpine, the sports brand of the Boulogne-Billancourt house. Abiteboul had his work in mind under the new denomination, but was fired in January 2021. Marcin Budkowski, who was part of the structure, assumed replaced Cyril. But…

The Polish lasted a sigh. At the close of its first season, the team announced its departure for January 2022. With Laurent Rossi as a strong man of Alpine within the company of the F1 team, they were for Otmar Szafnauer, who had just left the position of director of Aston Martin. The Romanian remained in office to the 2023 Belgium GP (October), when he was fired by Zoom. The lack of results and the treasurer that left the exit of Oscar Piestri, the jewel Alpine had been preparing to reach F1, were the reasons. The Australian took advantage of a lax contract that had made the French Team and signed with McLaren. Szafnauer was the fuse. Out after 20 months.

Alpine turned to Bruno Famin, who began to handle the threads of the team on an interim way. His step lasted less than a year, because in July 2024 he resigned to give the place to Oliver Oakes. The English founded the Hitech team, of great results in minor categories and landed in F1 as director of the French. A few days before the change in the dome, by Meo (CEO of Renault) he turned to Briatore to assume as an executive advisor. The coexistence between BriTore and Oakes worn out and the Italian decision to go down to Doohan to climb to Colapinto would have been the trigger for the director’s resignation.

And who assumed? Briatore. The same that began 16 years ago with this dance of names of directors who were falling like the pawns of a chess game. The Piedmontés had said that he had no interest in taking charge of day to day and having to participate in all the meetings that generate the position of director. Will someone who occupies the Alpine armchair who does not get the owner? For now, in the BriTore-Briatore cycle, eight directors passed in 11 seasons and coins.