Flavio Briatore celebrated Alpine's surprising double podium at Interlagos in Brazil, a result that transformed a troubled season into a victory of impeccable strategy and management. The French team, which started from ninth place in the constructors' standings, jumped to sixth thanks to a masterful performance by Esteban Ocon in the wet, which only Max Verstappen managed to surpass. Behind him, Pierre Gasly also gave his all, consolidating an extraordinary day for Alpine in a weekend where rain and chaos gave rise to an unpredictable race. For Briatore, this success represents the fruit of an internal renewal effort that is relaunching Alpine race after race.
A crazy weekend that rewards Alpine
The Interlagos race was a real marathon between downpours and strategies to reinvent, and the French team was ready. Esteban Ocon, thanks to excellent tyre management in the wet and an impeccable strategy, even found himself in the lead for part of the race., finally finishing second, about twenty seconds behind champion Verstappen. Pierre Gasly did the rest, taking the other Alpine to third place and completing an unexpected double podium. Flavio Briatore, the team's advisor, said that the result was the result of both strategy and a car that, in wet conditions, is able to express its maximum potential: “Today we also had a bit of luck and an exceptional Ocon in the wet, only Verstappen beat him. Gasly did his job, let's say that the car in the wet is much better than in the dry.”
The internal revolution: the “Easter cleaning”
Behind the Brazilian result, however, there is much more than a wet race and a few good decisions. Flavio Briatore spoke about the transformation process underway within the team, which has seen a clear cut in staff and an exclusive focus on competitiveness on the track: “This year we did an Easter cleanup. We’re cleaning everything and we’ve done a step in terms of updates just so we don’t disturb the 2025 machine,” he explained. “We arrived with 1150 people, now we’re 850. We need to go back to having people working for a racing team and not for a corporate. The team that is based in Enstone is completely independent, so we are back to the days of what Renault was like before. The engineers are only F1 engineers and everything else that was supposed to come out has come out.”
Aggressive strategy and calculated risk the ingredients of Alpine's success
Ocon and Gasly's podium in Brazil was not only the result of a technical improvement, but also of the ability to risk a bold strategy in complicated conditions, a fundamental aspect for Flavio Briatore: “The risk always depends on the strength of the team. Today we thought there would be a red flag and we were out, but we were very competitive,” he added. According to Briatore, the confidence and strength of the team are the basis of every success. “If we had been in the middle of the pack nothing would have changed,” he added, underlining the importance of having a motivated team that is able to take advantage of opportunities.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
