Flavio Briatore’s return to Formula One has already claimed its first victim. Just six races into the 2025 season, the Italian has ousted rookie Jack Doohan from Alpine’s driver line-up and installed Argentinian prodigy Franco Colapinto in the hot seat. Anyone expecting sensitivity or patience from the 75-year-old boss clearly hasn’t been paying attention.
In his first race weekend since taking over as Alpine Team Principal, Briatore wasted no time in asserting his dominance. And when questioned about the ruthlessness of cutting short a rookie’s debut season, the Italian made it crystal clear that underperformance is a sackable offence in his regime.
Doohan’s abrupt dismissal may have shocked some in the paddock, but Briatore was unfazed. Speaking to RTL/ntv and sport.de, he laid out his case with the kind of corporate finality that would send shivers down any employee’s spine.
“We started the season with Jack Doohan. He had five races to prove himself. After five races we looked at the results. And I didn’t like what I saw,” explained Briatore. “You only stay in a company if you do a good job. If you do a bad job, you get fired.
The cold calculation of performance
For Briatore, the romanticism of the sport is irrelevant. The decision to sack Doohan, he insists, was not driven by emotion, but by an obligation to the thousands of Alpine employees who depend on the team’s results for their livelihoods.
“We have two drivers who have to perform. More than a thousand people and their families depend on the team. I protect the people who work for me. That’s why I choose the best possible driver for the car,” he said.
And in his eyes, that driver is now Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian, promoted from Alpine’s reserve roster in time for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, immediately justified Briatore’s decision – at least according to the boss.
“If you look at the times on Sunday, you’ll see that he [Colapinto] was on a similar level to Gasly. It’s the first time our cars have been so close in terms of performance,” said Briatore.
“It confirms that we’ve made the right choice.”
The rise (and fall) of Jack Doohan
No sooner had Doohan’s F1 dream taken flight than it was grounded. After replacing Esteban Ocon at the end of 2024, the Australian was touted as the cornerstone of Alpine’s rebuilding project. However, underwhelming performances, limited development and ongoing speculation over Colapinto’s promotion cast a long shadow over his short-lived tenure.
Now relegated to the role of reserve driver, Doohan has been relegated to the sidelines – an ironic turn of events given his promising junior record and early flashes of pace. But in a Briatore operation, goodwill has a shelf life and excuses aren’t part of the vocabulary.
This rapid change of drivers also raises questions about Alpine’s long-term strategy, or perhaps more accurately the lack of one. The team currently sits second to last in the Constructors’ Championship – just ahead of the struggling VCARB outfit – and is preparing for a seismic shift when Renault ceases to be its engine supplier at the end of 2025. From 2026, Alpine will source its engines from Mercedes, a move that suggests the team is already looking beyond its current predicament and towards a drastic reboot.
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The Briatore Doctrine: ‘Democratic dictator’ at the helm
If there was any ambiguity about how Flavio Briatore intends to run Alpine, his own words remove all doubt. Far from collaborative, his management philosophy is a throwback to his Benetton and early Renault days – where control, charisma and controversy defined his reign.
“In a Formula One team you need a dictator – maybe a democratic dictator – but someone who is responsible,” explains Briatore.
“There has to be a figure who makes decisions. That’s me.”
It’s a model that feels deliberately out of step with the modern F1 landscape. Where most teams operate through shared leadership structures and internal committees, Briatore is taking a flamethrower to Alpine’s previous management. His predecessor, Oliver Oakes, resigned in vague circumstances after the Miami Grand Prix. Briatore, formerly a senior advisor to Alpine, didn’t so much take the reins as grab them.
Since then his fingerprints have been all over the place. The sacking of Doohan. Fast-tracking Colapinto. The removal of indecision. If Alpine was adrift before, it now has a captain steering with an iron fist.
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Colapinto: The new hope or another sacrificial lamb?
Franco Colapinto’s promotion has been hailed as a meritocratic move, but it comes with risks. The Argentine is fast, yes, but unproven at the highest level. Placing such high stakes on his shoulders could either catalyse a breakthrough or set the stage for another PR disaster.
Nevertheless, Briatore’s confidence in his new driver is unshaken – for now. Colapinto’s pace relative to Pierre Gasly at Imola was a promising first step, but F1 careers are rarely defined by a single race. And if one thing is clear under Briatore, it’s that no driver, no matter how hyped or heralded, is safe from the axe if results don’t materialise quickly.
The bigger picture: Alpine’s existential crisis
Beyond the driver drama, the deeper story lies in Alpine’s identity crisis. Renault’s looming exit as an engine supplier underlines just how unstable the project’s foundations have become. What was once a bold French works team now faces the sobering reality of becoming a Mercedes-powered customer outfit in two seasons’ time.
Briatore may be optimistic, but Alpine’s problems are systemic. Technical inconsistencies, organisational turnover and persistent underperformance have turned what should have been a top-four team into a midfield ghost ship. Even with a strong personality at the helm, the ship could still sink.
In a way, Briatore’s appointment feels like both a rescue mission and a final roll of the dice by Renault management. If anyone can shake a team out of its slumber, it’s Flavio. But whether he can translate his infamous old-school tactics into sustainable results in the modern F1 ecosystem remains to be seen.
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The end of patience in a ruthless era
Jack Doohan’s ejection is a blunt reminder of what Formula One has become – results now or goodbye. And with a figure like Briatore in charge, that urgency is multiplied.
No long-term project. No three-year plan. No room to grow. Just six races. Then you’re out. And if you don’t deliver, the door is already swinging open.
In Flavio Briatore’s Alpine, survival isn’t about potential. It’s about performance.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
