Why Flavio Briatore cannot be Alpine F1 team principal at Imola
Flavio Briatore may be Alpine's de facto F1 team bo♔ss but he is not seen that way by the FIA.
Flavio Briatore will not be viewed by F1’s governing body as being the person responsibl🎐e for Alpine at this weekend’s Emilia Roma𝕴gna Grand Prix.
The 75-year-old Italian cannot be team principal because “he is not a member of staff, and does not hold an F1 licence, as is required of people in such auth♍ority by the FIA’s competitor’s staff registration system”, .
Briatore is employed by Alpine’s parent company Renault on a consultancy basis, having returned to the Enstone-based ꧂s🀅quad last year when he was named as executive advisor.
While Briatore is the de facto boss of the Alpine F1 team following the unexpected departure of team principal Oliver Oakes following the Miami Grand Prix, he won’t be responsible for the team in the eyes of the FI𝐆A.
After Oakes’ shock resignatioไn for personal reasons, Alpine said Briatore would be “covering the duties previously performed” by the Briton.
Alpine have informeജd BBC Sport that racing director Dave Greenwood will be the “dedicated responsible person” in the absence of a new team principal being formally named.
When questioned why Briatore is not a staff member or licence holder, an Alpine spokesperson told BBC Sport: "Flavio ca꧅me into the team as executive adviser and remains a consultant. There's nothing more to it, or to read into it.”
Meanwhile, an FIA spokesperson said꧟: "Alpine have complied with all regulatory requirements relating to the deꦡparture of Mr Oakes, and have submitted their updated staff registration.
"We believe it is down to Alpine to provide an update on their manage🤡ment structure so we will not comment on any specific person holding a certificate of registration.”
Briatore’s return to F1 last year w𝓰as controversial because he received a lifetime ban for his involvement in fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
He was part of the “Crashgate” scandal which saw his driver Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash to cause a Safety Car which helped Renault teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso win the race.
But Briatore’s lifetime ban from F1 was overturned by a French court, paving the way for his c♊omeback in May 2🦹024.
No rift between Briatore and Oakes
Briatore dismissed speculation that Oakes’ exit was caused by a disagreement between the pair over Alpine’s brutal decision to replace with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Franco Colapinto for the next five races.
"ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚA lot has been said incorrectly associating the decision of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement, or that we shared different views. This is completely false and far from the truth," Briatore said in a statement po𒊎sted on his Instagram account.
"Me and Oli have a very good relationship and had long-term ambitions to drive this team🍸 forward together.
"We accept 📖Oli's request to resign and have therefore accepted his resignation.
"The reasons are not related to the teamౠ and are o🎉f a personal nature.
"I will contin꧒ue to be 💞more and more involved with the team, together with the strong management we already have in place.
"We will work hard on improving our po♈sition𒈔 this season and preparing for 2026."
Lewis regularly attends Grands🍌 Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from t🅘he ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
