Alpine racing director Davide Brivio fuelled by "oxygen" to understand F1

Alpine

Alpine racing director Brivio fuelled by "oxygen" to understand F1

Brivio has joined Alpine after 20 years in MotoGP

Ian Parkes

Monday 8 March 2021 15:15 Updated: 16:03

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New Alpine racing director Davide Brivio has claimed his need to understand and learn about Formula 1 is like "oxygen" for him after his 20 years in MotoGP.

Following the departure of Cyril Abitebul as team principal at the start of the year, Brivio was surprisingly appointed to the newly-created role, and is now working in tandem with executive director Marcin Budkowski.

Brivio has conceded "it was not easy to leave" Suzuki, where he had been team manager for eight years due it being "an environment I knew very well".

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The lure of F1, however, was irresistible, even appreciating he is on a steep learning curve given the fundamental difference between the sport and MotoGP.

"Formula 1 has been a dream for me for a long time, and it's very exciting for me to start something completely new, to get into a new environment," said Brivio.

"Of course, I have a lot to learn, a lot to understand, but that's adrenaline, for me, it's oxygen, to get to work and to learn a lot of things.

"It was an opportunity I felt I had to take, one I would have regretted if I hadn't taken it, so now here I am, and I will try to do my best.

"I hope I can contribute to the team with my experience. It won't be easy, I need some time, but I'm fully committed to getting involved as best as possible."

Given the division of duties between himself and Budkowski, the 56-year-old Italian has made clear exactly what his role entails, in particular across a race weekend.

"Basically, I will be in charge of track operation, track activities, so everything that happens at the circuit," said Brivio.

"Our job, as a race team, is to exploit the full potential of the car. At Enstone, there are a lot of people, with big pressure and a big responsibility.

"We have over 1,000 people in Enstone and Viry preparing the chassis, the car, the power unit.

"We are a much-limited number of people at the racetrack, but it's there that we have to extract the full potential of the car, so I will be in charge of that.

"Of course, I'm not an engineer but I have to make sure the engineers, mechanics, the drivers, all the people involved, they have all they need to perform at their very best.

"In this way, if we are able to have a strong team - which is already in place - we will be able to extract the full potential of the car, so that's the job."