Alpine facing bizarre F1 team principal setup at Imola Grand Prix

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Alpine facing bizarre F1 team principal setup at Imola Grand Prix

Oliver Oakes resigned from his role as Alpine team principal earlier this month

Kevin McKenna

Thursday 15 May 2025 17:57

Alpine are set to adopt a rather unusual team principal setup at this weekend's Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.

The Enstone-based outfit arrive at Imola amid a tumultuous period which has been marked by huge changes both on and off the track.

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It all kicked off on May 6, when Oliver Oakes resigned from his position as team principal with immediate effect, with 'personal' reasons behind his shock departure, before it was announced that rookie driver Jack Doohan had been replaced by Franco Colapinto the following day.

Who is in charge at Imola?

Executive advisor Flavio Briatore was expected to assume team responsibility at this week's race, but it has emerged that the fiery Italian is not the man in charge in the eyes of the FIA.

This is due to the fact that he is not regarded as a member of staff within the team, nor does he hold an F1 license, as is required of those in such positions by the FIA competitor's registration system.

An Alpine spokesperson told BBC Sport: "Flavio came into the team as executive adviser and remains a consultant. There's nothing more to it, or to read into it."

Racing director Dave Greenwood has now been confirmed by the team as the 'dedicated responsible person' this weekend.

An FIA spokesperson said: "Alpine have complied with all regulatory requirements relating to the departure of Mr Oakes, and have submitted their updated staff registration.

"We believe it is down to Alpine to provide an update on their management structure so we will not comment on any specific person holding a certificate of registration."

Briatore was brought in last summer in an effort to turn the strugglers' fortunes around, having previously won multiple world championships as team boss with Benetton and Renault.

But the 75-year-old had not been seen in F1 since 2010 following a lengthy investigation into his involvement in the crash-gate scandal of the 2008 Singapore GP, which saw Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crash his Renault to benefit team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win the race.

What is the FIA staff registration system?

All F1 teams must submit proposals for the identity of six specific members of staff to the sport's governing body for approval: a team principal, sporting director, technical director, team manager and two race engineers.

The FIA, however, has the right to refuse a certificate of registration if someone is deemed to be 'in breach of the FIA code of good standing' or 'under disciplinary sanction'.

Some examples which may constitute an infringement include giving instructions to the driver 'with the intention or with the likely result of causing an accident, collision or crash or a race to be stopped or suspended', and 'giving instructions to a driver or otherwise taking any action by which the result or course of a race may be influenced'.

Lewis Hamilton FIA Alpine Flavio Briatore Imola