Alpine has made the startling announcement that former Renault Team Principal and Crashgate mastermind Flavio Briatore will return to the Enstone-based Formula 1 outfit as Executive Advisor.
Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo has appointed Briatore to the role in order to “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,” as per the Alpine press release.
This latest change within Alpine’s forever-changing leadership structure has been developing for some time, with Joe Saward reporting that de Meo had been courting Briatore for several weeks.
Briatore is a controversial figure within F1 ranks and his appointment will more than likely ruffle feathers within the Alpine squad and the series itself, which has been keen to move into more respectable territory under Liberty Media.
When Alpine ran as Benetton with Briatore at the helm, the team was accused of cheating during its run to the 1994 title by using traction control, a system prohibited by the technical regulations.
That misdemeanour was never proved, but despite leading team Enstone to world championship success in both its Benetton and Renault guises, Briatore is best known for his leading role in the Crashgate scandal.
Briatore masterminded a plan to instruct his driver Nelson Piquet Jr to crash deliberately during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in order to hand team-mate Fernando Alonso a path to victory via a conveniently timed safety car.
The Italian was handed a lifetime ban from the sport when the scandal came to light in 2009, which he successfully overturned in court in 2010, paving the way for him to return to the team 14 years later.
Alpine has employed a revolving-door policy with its leadership staff in recent times amid a dramatic downturn in performance.
Former Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer and Sporting Director Alan Permane were all dismissed in 2023, with former Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry choosing to leave the team to take up a post at Williams.
Bruno Famin stepped in as Team Principal last summer, but more heads rolled at the start of the 2024 season when it emerged Alpine had an overweight and uncompetitive car.
That saw Technical Director Matt Harman and Head of Aerodynamics Dirk de Beer depart shortly after the season began and a three-pronged technical structure put in its place.
That technical structure is now led by former McLaren and Ferrari man David Sanchez, but further departures including Bob Bell, who left his advisory role to join Aston Martin, and long-serving Operations Director Rob White have continued Alpine’s tumultuous season in which the team has scored just five points in the first nine events.
With Briatore now with one hand at the helm, expect further changes in the Alpine hierarchy as the controversial Italian manoeuvres to strengthen his standing in the operation.
one more step further down for Alpine?