Alpine principal Oliver Oakes resigned with Italian Flavio Briatore, who had received a lifelong ban on Formula One, and he will step up his role as headmaster.

Oaks was appointed only nine months ago, and the 37-year-old resigned, the statement read by the Alps accepted the "direct effect" as the team replaced driver Jack Doohan in the next five F1 games.

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Briatore, who serves as executive director at Alpine, works with Oakes and he will continue to hold the role, but also assumes the role of Oakes, making him the de facto team principal, a development that may be considered unimaginable.

The 75-year-old won a lifetime ban in F1 after participating in the "Crashgate" scandal at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. Renault’s driver Nelson Piquet Jr Jr said Briatore, whom Nelson Piquet Jr alleged, was the head of the team and chief engineer Pat Symonds, who had asked him to deliberately crash to assist Fernando Alonso Alonso, who Who Who Who Win to Win.

Briatore and Symonds denied the allegation, but Renault did not compete at the 2009 FIA hearing, with both Briatore and Symonds leaving the team. Briatore then offered a life ban on all FIA-approved events. However, he filed the decision in a French court and was overturned a year later.

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At the time, Briatore said he had not seen himself return to F1, and he has been criticizing the direction of the sport since. However, in 2024, he was convinced by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, who is now an executive consultant on the team working for Renault’s sports car brand Alpine. Given that Crashgate has brought great attention to the sport, it is a controversial decision.

The team has also experienced a series of employee and management changes in recent years, including the sudden sacking of Otmar Szafnauer, the team principal in 2023. They have since lost Chief Technology Officer Pat Fry, Sports Director, Alan Permande, Alan Permane, Technical Director Matt Harman, Matt Harman, Matt Harman, Aerodyminics, Aerodynymics, Dirk De Beer, Dirk De Beer and The Operation Rob White, Rob White. Bruno Famin, who replaced Szafnauer, was in turn replaced by Oakes.

The Enstone-based team won four world titles under the guise of Benetton and Renault, both of whom served as directors at Briatore, who struggled to escape from midfield for more than a decade. Last year, Renault decided to stop building its own power unit at the Viry-Châtillon plant and instead pick up customer engines from Mercedes as of 2026. They made some progress under Oakes but are currently ranked ninth in the World Championships with six meetings ending.