Pierre Gasly has hailed the “important” impact that Flavio Briatore has had since returning to the Alpine Formula 1 team.
After a dismal start to 2024, Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo enlisted the services of Briatore in June, appointing him as an Executive Advisor at Alpine.
The enigmatic Italian spearheaded the Anglo-French outfit’s title-winning exploits as Team Principal during its Benetton days in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-2000s when the squad competed at Renault.
His controversial dealings with ‘crashgate’ aside, Briatore’s wealth of experience at Alpine is being deployed to turn the team back into a championship-winning force.
Since working with the Italian, Gasly has been positively impacted by what he has seen.
“I’m not with him every single day, but I can tell he’s bringing leadership,” Gasly told select media including Motorsport Week ahead of F1 75.
“That’s what we need in a F1 team. You need to have a leader who knows exactly where to bring his truth with 1,500 employees.
“We all need to be leaders, drivers included, but especially from the top management.
“He’s got experience in F1. He’s got incredibly good connections, whether it’s on the technical side or whether it’s on the management side in terms of sponsors.
“I think he’s been in the sport long enough to understand how it works and he’s brought Alpine or Enstone already to the top.
“Times have changed, but his dedication and commitment and motivation to make it happen again hasn’t changed.
“This is something very important, which I’m very glad to see.
“It’s a very clear vision, which is important in a team.”
Alpine heading in the right direction – Gasly
Briatore wasn’t the only leadership change made at Alpine in 2024 as Oliver Oakes was ushered in as Team Principal in August.
Briatore and Oakes are tasked with steering Alpine back to the top of F1 and began doing so by encouraging a late surge from ninth to sixth in the 2024 Constructors’ standings.
It’s a platform everyone at Alpine is keen to push on from and Gasly is optimistic with Briatore and Oakes in charge.
“I’m very pleased since Oli and Flav joined the team,” the Frenchman said.
“You can clearly see the mindset and the spirit of the team is heading in the right direction.
“I think the processes in all departments are really being challenged and delivering the best they can and that’s what we’re doing.
“There’s still a long way to go, but Flavio is a competitor. He’s in F1 to win. I’m in F1 to win.
“Oli is in F1 to bring the team to the top and also to win.
“It’s going to take the time we need, but definitely as a team I can see a lot of positivity and tell we’re going in the right way.”
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