Alpine unveils Flavio Briatore as F1 executive advisor

The Alpine Formula One team have appointed Flavio Briatore as executive advisor.

Confirmed:

• Briatore appointed directly by Renault chief executive Luca de Meo
• Italian businessman rejoins the team he left in 2009 after the ‘crashgate’ scandal

Context:

Briatore was banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) following his involvement in the ‘crashgate’ scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. As Renault team principal, he ordered Nelson Piquet Jr to crash on purpose to fix the race result and allow teammate Fernando Alonso to win. The ban was later overturned in court.

Turning to a man with such a controversial history in Formula One – let’s not forget the cheating allegations that surrounded his Benetton team in the 1990s – highlights the point of desperation that Alpine currently finds themselves in. This period of soul-searching for the Enstone-based outfit could even see them ditch Renault engines to become a customer team from 2026.

Comment:

An Alpine statement read: ‘Briatore will predominantly focus on top level areas of the team including: scouting top talents and providing insights on the driver market, challenging the existing project by assessing the current structure and advising on some strategic matters within the sport.’

Coming next:

Briatore will be with the team for the first time in an official capacity from this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, taking place from 21st to 23rd June at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

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