F1 team boss reveals Fernando Alonso signing priority

Fernando Alonso

F1 team boss reveals Fernando Alonso signing priority

Flavio Briatore was Alonso's boss at Renault all those years ago

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 1 August 2026 18:45

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Flavio Briatore has offered out his priorities for rebuilding the Alpine F1 team, amid rumours of a Fernando Alonso signing.

Briatore was previously the boss of Alonso when the Spaniard claimed his two world championship titles in 2005 and 2006 at Renault.

He is now back at the Enstone-based outfit in an advisory role, and is trying to oversee the team getting back to the very top of F1, having worked with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Alonso and Jos Verstappen throughout the course of his career.

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Now, Briatore's two drivers are Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, and both men have been in good form in 2026, helping Alpine to reach sixth in the constructors' championship.

But that has not stopped the rumours regarding a potential swoop for Alonso for one last time working with the Spaniard before he retires.

Alonso is currently deciding on whether to renew his contract for 2027 with Aston Martin, retire from the sport altogether given he is 45 years of age, or attempt one last team switch in the hope of challenging for a podium or two before his career ends.

However, an F1 insider revealed that Alonso has an off-track role at Aston Martin lined up for when he finishes driving, while Briatore has now said that it's not his priority to sign another driver at Alpine for the time being.

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"I wish," Briatore told The Race podcast when asked if he would love to have another Schumacher or Alonso at his current team. "In this moment, the driver is really not our priority. You need to fit the driver in the team the moment you believe the driver gives this two, three, tenths, make a big difference.

"In this moment, we need to build the team. We need to build the confidence between engineering, we need to build complicity between everybody. Don't forget, this team, we arrived in this team with 1,200-1,300 people. Now we drop to 900 people.

"Today, my priority is to build a racing team. This is the priority. After that, I believe the driver we have, we are in the first, OK, if you talk about the six top drivers, I believe Pierre is inside the six top drivers. I think so.

"We need just a better car, better confidence in people here in the factory. And this is what we need to do now.

"Sure, the moment you need to do the big, the two tenths [of a star driver] make the big difference. Why not Pierre? Why not the driver we have? Because at one point, as well for Franco, he's very young. He's the first year in Formula 1, and from last year to this year, he's improving, 100 per cent.

"You don't know a young driver, the development of a young driver. Let's see the future. But it's not my priority at the moment. Really, the driver is not my priority."

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F1 Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Alpine Flavio Briatore