The rumors were confirmed. After 14 years of absence Flavio Briatore is ready to return to Formula 1: the former Renault team principal will join his old team, now Alpine, in the role of consultant. A return that will cause much discussion given the reasons that led to the Italian entrepreneur's exclusion from the Circus, namely his involvement in the 'Crashgate' of 2008.
Briatore returns to F1, Alpine announcement
Briatore will join the team with the role of executive advisor and will have some tasks that do not concern the track. In particular he will deal with the drivers market and with finding the best talents around. Furthermore he will have to manage strategic issues relating to the team structure.
Alpine announced the arrival of Flavio Briatore with a statement: “BWT Alpine F1 Team can confirm that Flavio Briatore has been appointed by Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo as his executive advisor for the Formula 1 division.”
“Briatore will predominantly focus on the high-level areas of the team, including: scouting top talent and providing insights into the driver market, questioning the existing project by evaluating the current structure and advising on certain strategic issues internal".
Briatore's return to an F1 team is still a topic that strikes a certain chord given the way he left the paddock. After the events in Singapore in 2008, the FIA initially imposed a lifetime veto on the entrepreneur, but Briatore managed to overturn the sentence at the French Grand Instance Court in 2010. However, his ouster was not enough to keep him away from the F1. In fact, Briatore still manages Fernando Alonso and also helped organize the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
A delicate period for Alpine
The French team is not having the best of times. There is a lot of discussion about the future of the team given the disappointing results. A topic of discussion is related to the possibility of becoming a customer team from 2026, and precisely for this reason Briatore's arrival could be decisive. Deciding whether or not it is worth continuing as a manufacturer with the costs involved in developing a Power Unit, or close a supply agreement with construction teams such as Mercedes.
