Flavio Is Back...

The year is 1988 and Formula 1 is a den for playboys, former criminals, and corruption. Don't believe me? Go and look at Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley's history. Back to 1988, a 38 year old Flavio Briatore arrives on the scene under the Benetton flag, a company he worked for whilst living as a fugitive from the Italian Courts in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. He was convicted of multiple counts of fraud in the 1980s, and never went to prison after multiple appeals and eventually returned to the EU after both convictions were extinguished by amnesty.

It didn't take the savvy business man, and former conman, long to rise to a position of power within the Benetton Formula 1 team, where he hired some impressive engineers, and a young Michael Schumacher after his debut in 1991. Under dubious circumstances, allegations of cheating with the use of banned electronic aids and fuel filter removal for faster pitstops, the Benetton team took Schumacher to his first Drivers' Title in 1994, second in 1995, and a Constructors' Championship in 1995. In the late 90s, superpowers like Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams dominated the sport, and Flavio tried his hand at owning other teams, before moving to Renault and supplying engines to Formula 1 teams.

Enter the turn of the millennium, and Renault announce their return to the sport, with Briatore, to replace the Benetton team in 2002. Some say that Briatore created the monster of a driver that Schumacher became and, if that was his success in the 90s, in the 00s he set his sights on creating another monster to defeat his last. He spotted a great talent in Fernando Alonso and became his manager, eventually signing him to the Renault team in 2003. Alonso went on to dethrone Schumacher in 05 and 06 before trying his hand in the McLaren in 07 against a rookie Lewis Hamilton. Some other notable drivers Briatore managed include Mark Webber (who now manages Oscar Piastri) and Nelson Piquet Jr - remember that one for later, it's important.

2007 was the wild west of modern-day Formula 1, and by that I mean since the sport really hit the mainstream media, not just the turb-hybrid era. It felt like the transition from the corruption of old into the bright white light of the world press. Some of you might have heard of the Spygate Scandal, well Briatore wasn't exactly in the middle of it, but his team were accused in the process. Essentially, Ferrari accused former employee Nigel Stepney of taking secrets to their rivals McLaren through their engineer Mike Coughlan. After McLaren were found guilty, they turned their attention to Renault who were accused of also possessing Ferrari and, by extension, McLaren secrets. This story could be a whole article in itself, so for now I will leave it there.

As if the 2007 season wasn't enough drama for one decade, a year later there would be another - Crashgate. 2008 marked the debut of the Singapore Grand Prix, F1's first true night race on the streets of the Marina Bay. It was hyped up as an event to rival that of the Monaco Grand Prix, and obviously, everyone wanted to win the first one. Renault were really nowhere in the 2008 campaign, even with the return of Alonso, they just didn't have the car to compete with McLaren and Ferrari. Alonso suffered a fuel feed problem in qualifying, eliminating him early, and with overtaking difficult at street circuits, this looked like it might be game over for the double-world champion taking the first Singapore Grand Prix victory.

What unfolded next was a result of race manipulation and the regulations of the time. Massa was leading the race, with Alonso way down the order. He pitted early for some super soft tyres, and 2 laps later, Nelson Piquet Jr crashed at turn 17 (blaming his tyres at the time), which resulted in a safety car and the closure of the pitlane. Some cars were able to pit before this closure, and some pitted anyway despite the resulting penalty. Once all the cars were behind the safety car, the pitlane opened, and everyone else piled in. Ferrari did Ferrari things in the pitlane, and once the dust settled it was Nico Rosberg who led, but Fernando Alonso had made it up to fifth place. Rosberg was carrying a penalty for pitting when the pitlane was closed, which promoted Alonso to third. Through pitstops and pace, Alonso managed to work his way to first place, and took the win.

Piquet Jr later left Renault and allegations surfaced that his crash was deliberate, to give Alonso a tactical advantage. Briatore was accused of staging the crash, and Renault were charged with conspiracy and race fixing in 2009. Renault confirmed that Briatore had retired from the sport, and the FIA stated that it would not renew any super license granted to any of Briatore's drivers, effectively banning him from managing drivers participating in any FIA sport. In 2010 the ban was overturned by the Tribunal de Grande Instance, stating that FIA president Mosley was at odds with Briatore and had made the ban personal. Briatore fell out of love with the "manufacturers' sport" that F1 became in 2014 and stayed away from the sport he once loved.

It wasn't until 2024, in May, that Briatore returned to Alpine as an executive advisor for the Formula One division of the Renault brand. Given Briatore's history, it's clear this role was "Team Boss", despite Alpine churning through senior figures over the last few years and appointing Oliver Oakes at a similar time. It took one year, one year from his return, and Oliver Oakes announced his resignation from the role. On 6th May 2025, Alpine released a statement saying Oakes had resigned, less than 24 hours later it was announced that Jack Doohan would return to the reserve driver position in favour of Franco Colapinto. Interestingly enough, Doohan is managed by Briatore.

What does this mean for Alpine? Well, they are nowhere in the standings this season. Gasly has put in a few good performances, but generally speaking they are at the back of the field. Gasly sits in 12th with 7 points, and Doohan 19th with 0 points. The team are 9th, just 1 point ahead of Kick Sauber. With a regulation change next year it makes sense that they should focus on the 2026 car development and test out drivers to make sure they have a solid lineup for the future. Briatore knows better than most how to be ruthless in this sport, so one might say they are in good hands. Don't expect this to be the last of the firings at Alpine though, Flavio is probably going to build a good team around him and we might see Alpine return to glory in the next few years.