Last Updated on May 9 2025, 2:39 pm
The chaos which has been Alpine in all its previous guises continued right before the start of the European Formula One racing season. As was widely reported by TJ13 pre-season, Jack Doohan had been given just six race weekends to prove himself worthy of a drive for the French owned team.
Despite qualifying ahead of his team mate Pierre Gasly in Miami, the son of Australian international biking legend was dismissed from his role as driver and returned to the reserve role he occupied last season.
In his place Argentinian Franco Colapinto has been given a chance, although he too may be on a fixed contract for a similar number of races after being signed by Flavio Briatore during the winter break The Argentinian is believed to bring significant financial backing from his fourth American sponsors after he enjoyed an impressive nine Grand Prix weekends at the end of 2024 where he replaced the hapless Logan Sargeant at Williams.
Oakes ‘steps down’ amid dispute rumours
As if this wasn’t big enough news for the Alpine team, almost simultaneously it was announced that team principal Oliver Oakes was ‘stepping down’. Oakes replaced Bruno Famin who famously slammed his driver Esteban Ocon live on French TV after a mistake on lap one in Monaco where he hit his team mate Gasly.
Ocon announced within two weeks he would be leaving Alpine at the end of the season, later confirming he had secured a seat with American owned Haas F1. Esteban himself has scored 14 points across six race weekends this season, whole Alpine as a team have struggled and have a current total of just six.
Before Famin the team had sacked Otmar Szafnaeuer the previous year and the appointment of Flavio Briatore as Oakes replacement means he is the seventh team boss of the French owned squad since the departure of Cyril Abiteboul in 2020.
Flavio Briatore the disgraced former boss of Renault had been appointed by the French automakers board as a ‘special consultant’ last season, although his impact on the team has been more of a grim reaper. 25% headcount at Enstone has been slashed, along with the long standing F1 power unit facility in Viry which has been building F1 engines almost continuously since 1977.
Alpine headcount culled
The Italian has signed a deal with Mercedes to supply Alpine for next season and even the arrival of Oakes was hardly a fanfare moment as the Italian continued to take centre stage at the team. Other runners surrounding the controversial Briatore is that he has been appointed to quickly make the team profitable before its sale by Renault to a new owner.
When Oakes stepped down earlier this week it was presumed it was due to several differences he had with Briatore, the latest being the sacking of young driver Jack Doohan. The 37 year old Brit strangely did not release a statement addressing the reasons for his departure..
A team statement said: “The team would like to thank Oliver for his efforts since he joined last summer and for his contribution in helping the team secure sixth place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship. The team will not be making any further comment.”
Now it appears there were more sinister reasons for the deaprture of Oakes from Alpine, as today it has become clear his brother is under a criminal investigation. William Oakes was arrested at Silverstone, the home of the F1 British Grand Prix and charged with “transferring criminal property” and police confirmed he was found in “possession of a large amount of cash.”
Oakes arrested at Silverstone
A full police statement read: “William Oakes, 31, of Rugby was charged with transferring criminal property on Friday, May 2 after he was stopped in the Silverstone Park area in Northamptonshire on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in possession of a large amount of cash.
“He appeared before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, May 3, and remanded in custody.”
Currently, there is no indication that Oliver is involved with his brother’s alleged criminal activities, and Alpine’s new team boss quickly issued an opportune statement clearing up the rumours surrounding his departure which attempts to quell the notion that Oakes and Briatore were in any kind of conflict which led to the resignation.
“A lot has been said in the past 24 hours incorrectly associating the decision of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement, or that we shared different views. This is completely false and far from the truth. Me and Oli have a very good relationship and had long-term ambitions to drive this team forward together.
“We respect Oli’s request to resign and have therefore accepted his resignation. The reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature,” read the statement. The intrigue continues yet it would be unlikely if Oliver’s resignation was not related to the criminal charges his brother faces.
Audi F1 troubles deepen
Meanwhile the revolving door at Audi F1 continues is circular journey as Chief Executive Adam Baker is the latest to leave the German funded F1 project by “mutual agreement.” Christian Foyer taking over his duties on the engine side, the future factory team said on Monday.
Foyer has now joined the management board of Audi Formula Racing, the entity responsible for the hybrid powertrain, in the new role of chief operating officer. Baker’s role has been eliminated. The entire Audi F1 entry is headed by former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto who enjoyed the coup of the year as Jonathan Wheatley of Red Bull was recruited as the new team principal.
Sauber who Audi acquired have been the perennial rubbing rags of the F1 championship and rumour of them struggling both with their F1 power unit for 2026 and chassis design refuse to go away. Ex-McLaren team boss Andreas Stella was sacked last year from his role as Group CEO along with Oliver Hoffman who was Audi appointed and remained highly critical of the direction in which the project was going.
New boss, same old problem
“We would like to thank Adam Baker for his commitment over the past years,” said Gernot Doellner, chairman of the Volkswagen-owned brand, in a statement. “He played a decisive role in shaping the overall strategic concept for the entry of Audi into Formula 1 and got the development of the power unit in Neuburg off the ground.
“With Christian Foyer, we are now bringing a proven expert in process structures in F1 powertrain development into the project. His experience will help ensure the synergistic cooperation and necessary speed on the journey we have embarked upon regarding the debut.”
It seems like all is not well with the Audi 2026 powertrain as with less than eight months before it must be completely assembled, a new specialist is being brought in to head up the project.
New “problem” with Hamilton Ferrari reveals
Ferrari left searching for answers as Hamilton struggles with mystery performance issue – The Miami Grand Prix proved to be a sobering experience for Ferrari as both of their drivers found themselves on the back foot. Charles Leclerc crossed the line in seventh, followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton in eighth – a far cry from the front-running performances the team had hoped for after showing promising pace at the start of the 2025 Formula One season.
But beyond the disappointing result lies a deeper issue that has left Ferrari’s engineers scratching their heads: an unidentified problem that is hampering their ability to extract performance from the car, particularly in qualifying trim and especially when new tyres are in play.
The problem doesn’t just affect Ferrari’s competitiveness – it has serious implications for their development path and championship ambitions. And with Lewis Hamilton still adjusting to life in Maranello, the timing could not be worse…. READ MORE
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Given the headline “Oaks arrested after quitting Alpine” and the picture of Oli that goes with it, is this not bordering (at the very least) on libel? You are very clearly conflating the person arrested with the person who worked at Alpine.
I for one only read this particular article because I believed it was Oli who had been arrested for some reason. Hmmm. Disappointing.