Alpine boss Oliver Oakes believes any Formula 1 team writing off 2025 development ahead of next year’s rule changes has done so due to having a poor off-season.
Oakes took charge of Alpine as Team Principal last August and oversaw a revival in fortunes.
Under his stewardship and a successful upgrade package introduced in the Autumn, Alpine went from ninth to sixth in the Constructors’ standings.
With plans to bring Alpine back to the front of F1 in the coming years, one could be forgiven that Alpine will scrap 2025 development to turn its attention to the 2026 rule changes as soon as possible.
But Oakes doesn’t have this mindset and wants to balance this year and the next.
Oakes revealed to PlanetF1 that 2025 “is probably one of the busiest years or busiest winters you’re going to have in F1.”
The Alpine boss attributed that to the fact that this year is the last in the current rule cycle, with 2026 bringing sweeping changes to the technical regulations.
“You’d love to make loads of improvements, but you’re a bit limited with the budget cap and focusing on 2026,” he said.
“You’ve got to decide as the team boss, do you want to, I dare say, write off ‘25 and focus only for ‘26 and ’27?”
Oakes reasoned that any teams that have decided to write off 2025 entirely have done so because they have failed to develop their cars appropriately over the winter.
“I don’t believe anyone’s going to do that in F1 because everyone wants to go racing, everyone’s pushing,” he said.
“When I read some of that recently, I thought, well, that’s because some teams know they’re already not finding the performance they want for 2025.
“I think, from our side, we’ve got to balance those resources, but we’re not going to write off a whole season.
“At the end of the day, I think we had broad performance in 2024 and I hope we can do that this year whilst also keeping an eye on ’26.”
Oakes explains his F1 vision for Alpine
Oakes has been tasked with returning Alpine to former glories – given that under the guise of Renault, the team competed for and won championships.
That was under the stewardship of Flavio Briatore, who returned to the Enstone outfit last June as Executive Advisor.
Oakes, Briatore and Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo have already committed to the extraordinary change of scrapping the works engine division in Viry, France in favour of becoming a Mercedes customer team from 2026.
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Briatore set out his targets for the next few seasons.
“Alpine must always be in the top six next year,” Briatore said.
“In 2026, we want to be on the podium in 50 per cent of all races,” he continued.
“Then you automatically win one or another race. In 2027, we must be able to compete for the title.”
But what is Oakes, the youngest team boss on the F1 grid’s vision for Alpine?
He revealed just that in his conversation with PlanetF1, saying: “My vision? I think really it’s already there.
“I want a clear focus on ‘We’re here to go racing’,” he said.
“We’re not going to accept walking to the back of the grid, we want to be there in the midfield, and we eventually want to be there at the front of the grid – but that doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen in six months, 12 months, that takes a bit of time and I think also you need to stack everything step-by-step and I think, obviously, the first step was to come in and support the team, give it some stability, and give it some leadership.
“The second step is to put it in the direction we want to go.
“That isn’t always anything tangible, some of that is really a bit of values, a bit of culture, and a bit of a discussion over what we need to do to get better.
“I think there are obviously some strategic choices there – whether that’s your driver lineup, whether that’s your power unit decision…”
With the power unit decision wrapped up, the question of drivers at Alpine is one everyone wants to answer long-term.
As it stands, Jack Doohan will partner Pierre Gasly at Alpine in 2025 and while the Frenchman’s place in the team is secure, the same can’t be said for the Australian rookie.
That is because Alpine has scooped up Franco Colapinto from Williams on a multi-year deal and although the Argentine is a reserve in 2025, he could be called upon for a race seat if Doohan doesn’t meet the required standard.
Still, should Doohan make the grade, which nobody would begrudge happening for the good of his career, Alpine will simply have a wealth of choices regarding its driving roster.
READ MORE – Flavio Briatore leaks potential Alpine F1 2025 livery
