Bruno Famin announced that he’d be stepping down from the role of the Team Principal at Alpine. Soon, Oliver Oakes was announced as his replacement. Last year, Famin stepped up as the interim team boss after Otmar Szafnauer’s departure but they later confirmed him as the permanent team boss. However, Edd Straw and Scott Mitchell-Malm speculate Flavio Briatore was the reason Famin stepped down.
“Yeah, I think it is Briatore that’s pulling the strings. I mean, it was always going to be a clash when he arrived with Famin because Famin wasn’t just team principal. He was the VP of Alpine Motorsports and he’d had that Viri role before,” said Mitchell-Malm on The Race F1 podcast.
The duo discussed how Briatore’s name was in the official announcement by the team regarding Oakes’ Team principal role. If Briatore has joined the team as an advisor to Luca de Meo, this shouldn’t be happening, per Mitchell-Malm. Hence, the duo agreed upon the fact that Briatore’s role is much more than just an advisor.
They further explained that even Famin’s role was more than just the team boss. He was looking over the whole F1 project to stop anyone from the top level from interfering with the program. This sort of power struggle and lack of control is something Briatore wouldn’t have liked.
With Briatore’s arrival leading to Famin’s exit, Straw and Mitchell-Malm agreed upon the fact that the mastermind behind Crashgate actually has a lot of influence with Alpine.
Regardless, Famin is just the latest one who got fired/left Alpine in the last couple of years. Matt Harman, Dirk de Beer, Pat Fry, and Esteban Ocon are some of the others who are already part of this Alpine shuffle.
Alpine struggles amid Briatore’s Arrival – Engine department conundrum and Mercedes deal
Alpine has had the least powerful engine on the grid for multiple years now. With no customer teams as well, Alpine has been considering shutting down the engine department. The team is reportedly in talks with Mercedes over an engine deal with Briatore spearheading the operation.
A former Alpine employee recently came out on LinkedIn to slam Luca de Meo and the Alpine management for their poor ability to manage the team. He revealed how the Alpine employees don’t know about the speculated engine department shutdown and are relying on the media for the latest on the same.
A works team opting to switch to become a customer team just doesn’t feel right. While it isn’t impossible to win a championship being a customer team, it is less likely. For the same reason, Aston Martin exclusively partnered with Honda for 2026. Their Mercedes engine is limiting the design around the rear of the car.
While it may not seem like it, Alpine is in shambles and needs to hire multiple people on the technical front. Regardless, they ended up signing Briatore, who’s known for neglecting the technical aspects of the sport. Some reports even suggest that Alpine brought in Briatore to facilitate the sale of the team.
