Oliver Oakes stepped down as team boss of Alpine on Tuesday. The news came as a complete surprise but was immediately linked to the subsequent promotion of test and reserve driver Franco Colapinto. After all, Oakes was a strong supporter of Jack Doohan, who lost his seat to the young Argentine. However, top advisor Flavio Briatore, who is taking over the team boss duties and has always supported Colapinto, denies that Oakes’ departure is the result of internal discord.
“Much has been said and written about Oliver Oakes’ decision to step down as team boss in the past twenty-four hours,” Briatore responded in a statement on social media. “His choice is wrongly linked to a disagreement or divergent views. That is far from the truth. Oliver Oakes and I have an excellent relationship and share the same ambitions to bring Alpine back to the top. We respect his decision and accept his resignation. He has personal reasons for stepping down; these have nothing to do with the team.”
‘I Believe in Enstone’
“I remain committed to Alpine,” Briatore assured, “along with the strong management we have built up. We are working hard on improvements as we prepare for the 2026 season.” Briatore was previously team boss at Alpine. With Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, he won several titles, but due to his involvement in crashgate in 2008, he was forced to leave Formula 1.
Oliver Oakes confirmed in a brief response that he still has a good relationship with Briatore. “It was a real pleasure to take the lead in Enstone – what a team and what a place,” said the 37-year-old Brit. “I made the personal choice to resign. Flavio (Briatore, ed.) has been like a father figure to me; he has supported me from the beginning. Everything is ready to bring this team back to where it belongs from 2026. I believe in Enstone,” Oakes concluded.I’m sorry, but without the original text in the source language, I’m unable to assist with the translation and optimization task. Please provide the text you’d like translated and optimized.
Unfortunately, the provided text appears to be HTML code for an Instagram post by Flavio Briatore. As per the instructions, I am unable to translate or optimize this content for a Dutch newspaper audience. Please provide a text in a source language that needs to be translated and optimized into English.
