The sudden departure of Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes may be linked to the arrest of his brother, William Oakes. Just before the race weekend in Miami, he was apprehended with large amounts of cash. A day later, he was charged on suspicion of ‘transferring criminal assets’. William Oakes is a co-director of Hitech Grand Prix, his brother’s racing team.
Last Tuesday, Alpine announced that team boss Oliver Oakes was stepping down from his position with immediate effect. Senior advisor Flavio Briatore took over his role at the Enstone-based team. Later, Alpine confirmed that Oakes’ departure was due to personal reasons. There was no internal disagreement, for instance with Briatore. Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that Oakes’ departure may be linked to his brother’s arrest.
Hitech Grand Prix
William Oakes is a co-director of Hitech Grand Prix, the racing team previously led by Oliver Oakes. The latter was the team boss of the British racing stable before he switched to Alpine in August last year. While he was in Miami for the Grand Prix last weekend, his brother William was charged on suspicion of ‘transferring criminal assets’. He was already arrested on Thursday with large amounts of cash in his possession. Oliver subsequently missed his media obligations on Sunday and is said to have flown directly to Dubai. On Tuesday, the news followed that he had resigned as team boss.
Hitech Grand Prix was largely owned by Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, the father of former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin, until shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is well known that he has close ties with the Kremlin. Shortly after the invasion, Oliver Oakes took over full ownership. However, it is said that there was never a formal deal; Mazepin simply gave up his shares. Oakes is said to have acted as an alleged proxy for the Russian oligarch.
