After abruptly stepping down as team boss of Alpine following the Miami Grand Prix, Oliver Oakes is nevertheless present in Imola this weekend. The Brit left the Enstone-based team for ‘personal reasons’ and handed over his duties to senior advisor Flavio Briatore. His departure was later linked to the arrest of his brother William, but this clearly hasn’t deterred Oakes from attending the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Oliver Oakes was present in the support paddock for the Formula 2 and Formula 3 teams leading up to the Grand Prix in Imola. This is not surprising, as he still owns Hitech GP, the British team that competes in several feeder series, including the junior formulas. Despite moderate successes in the past season, he severed his ties with the Alpine Formula 1 team after the Miami Grand Prix.
William Oakes
The British newspaper The Telegraph reported in the aftermath of the race weekend in Florida that his departure may have been related to the arrest of his younger brother William. The Englishman, who is a co-director at Hitech GP, was arrested with a large amount of cash. Not long after, he was charged with ‘transferring criminal property’. The incident exposed the controversial history of Hitech.
The British racing team was indeed owned for a long time by Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, father of former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oliver Oakes took full ownership. Since the arrest of his brother, there have been rumors that the 37-year-old Englishman was hiding in Dubai – but now he is ‘simply’ present in Imola.
