Alpine announces change in leadership, driver swap ahead of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

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It has been an eventful past 24 hours for the Alpine F1 Team, with the departure of team principal Oli Oakes and a driver change coming just a day apart.

On Tuesday, the team announced that team principal Oli Oakes had resigned with immediate effect. The resignation came as a shock to those in and around the sport. The 37-year-old was hired in July following a successful stint with Hitech GP, a junior formula racing team he founded in 2015. The second-youngest team principal in Formula 1 history lasted just six races into the new season.

“The team would like to thank Oliver for his efforts since he joined last summer and for his contribution in helping the team secure sixth place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship,” said a team statement.

Oakes had a strong start to his Alpine career, helping the team secure a pivotal sixth place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship and scoring a surprise double podium at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix. However, the start to the 2025 F1 season has not been as kind to Oakes and Alpine. Six races into the season, Alpine sits second-to-last in the team standings with only seven points. All seven points were scored by No. 1 driver Pierre Gasly, whose best result was a seventh-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Gasly was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix because the weight of his car after the race was under the minimum weight allowed.

The team announced that Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore would take over Oakes’ role with immediate effect. It is unclear whether Briatore will serve on an interim basis while they look for a permanent replacement or if he will assume the role full time. Oakes’ departure marks the third Alpine team principal to leave within the last two years, adding to the list of major employees exiting the team since brand CEO Laurent Rossi left in July 2023.

“It is a personal decision for me to step down,” said Oakes in a statement. “Flavio has been like a father to me, nothing but supportive since I took over the role, as well as giving me the opportunity. Everyone is in place for 2026 and where the dream deserves to be.”

Briatore is one of the most polarizing and controversial team bosses in F1 history. The 75-year-old had a nine-year stint with Renault F1 as the team’s principal and managing director. Briatore led the team to two Constructors’ Championships. Briatore was involved in numerous scandals while at Renault, with the biggest one being “Crashgate.” In the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Briatore instructed then-Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the race. A year later, the allegation surfaced, and the team was charged with conspiracy and race fixing, leading to the resignation of Briatore.

More than a decade later, Briatore made his return to the sport, joining Alpine as the team’s executive advisor in May 2024. While he wasn’t given the title of “boss” or “principal,” it was assumed that he had the majority of control over decision-making. Briatore’s first major move back in F1 was to end a long-standing engine partnership with Renault, switching to Mercedes-powered engines in 2026.

Just like that decision, Briatore made a big move less than 24 hours into his new role, assuming team principal duties.

Alpine swapped second drivers, replacing Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto.

Doohan, Alpine’s reserve driver, signed with the team at the end of last season. The signing process with Briatore was heavily featured in “Drive to Survive,” Netflix’s popular F1 docuseries. The 22-year-old made his debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of last season, replacing Esteban Ocon, who was off to Haas for the upcoming season. Doohan failed to register a point in his seven races with the team. His best result was a 13th-place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He crashed out of the opening race of the season, his home Grand Prix in Australia, and crashed out of his last race on the first lap.

There has long been speculation that Colapinto would replace Doohan after the Argentine signed with Alpine as the team’s reserve driver for the 2025 season. Colapinto had an impressive debut season in F1, replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams in August. Colapinto scored five points in nine races and finished above five drivers in the Constructors’ Championship, two of whom raced the entire season.

Williams team principal James Vowles wanted to keep the 21-year-old in his driver lineup this season, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to pair Colapinto’s then-teammate Alex Albon with four-time race winner and former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Vowles allowed Colapinto to sign for Alpine to give him the best chance of racing this season, knowing that wouldn’t happen as the reserve driver for Williams. Vowles admitted that he would like to have Colapinto back racing for Williams in the future.

Colapinto has signed a five-race deal to prove his worth to the team, with Alpine introducing a “rotating” driver policy for the team’s second car.

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre Gasly for the next five races,” Briatore said. “With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.”

The Colapinto-Doohan swap is the second major driver change we have seen in the early stages of the 2025 season. Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson swapped seats within the Red Bull system in late March, with Tsunoda being promoted to Oracle Red Bull Racing and Lawson being demoted to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team, Red Bull’s junior team.

Colapinto will return to an F1 track next weekend for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy. Doohan will return as Alpine’s reserve driver.