What’s going on at Alpine? F1 team saga continues amid latest mess

A shock resignation and driver turmoil in the space of 12 hours has seen the Alpine F1 team descend into further chaos and instability.

On Tuesday evening came the first of a double-whammy of Alpine announcements, with Oliver Oakes resigning from his position as team principal with immediate effect.

Just 12 hours later, Alpine then confirmed the expected news that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan, albeit only as part of a agreement covering the next five grands prix.

It marks the latest mini chapter during a seemingly-never ending saga at Alpine, who are gaining an unwanted reputation for being the most volatile and unstable team on the F1 grid.

More turbulence at the top

While news of Doohan’s axing had been anticipated since the Miami Grand Prix (and mooted before the season even started), nobody saw Oakes’ shock immediate resignation coming.

Oakes’ sudden decision to leave Alpine is said to have taken the team by surprise. Other than confirming his departure, Alpine made no further comment about Oakes’ exit, nor did they provide any indication that it was on the horizon.

It appears his resignation is a direct response to the driver decision taken by executive advisor Flavio Briatore.

Oakes had repeatedly backed Doohan in public and seemed to be in favour of the 22-year-old Australian being retained.

But Briatore, who is not afraid to make bold and brutal calls, had other ideas. After all, it was the 75-year-old who pushed to sign Colapinto, a driver he rates highly, in the first place.

Although Oakes was brought in by Briatore to lead the F1 team, recent revelations have made it abundantly clear, if there was previous doubt, that the controversial Italian is the one pulling the all strings at Alpine.

Oakes was said to be at odds with Briatore over Alpine’s driver line-up and was left compromised and unsatisfied by how things played out, paving the way for his unexpected departure less than a year after being appointed to the role.

The 37-year-old Briton’s planned media session was cancelled as he abruptly left the paddock on Sunday evening, where Crash.net were working, in what the team explained as being a “change in travel plans” - had he already decided to quit there and then?

On Wednesday afternoon, Briatore issued a statement insisting there was no disagreement between the pair and that Oakes had left for "personal" reasons. 

Briatore represents the fifth ‘team principal’ the French squad have had in the past five years, having cycled through Cyril Abiteboul, Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin and now Oakes.

Since Alpine’s rebrand, the team have been dogged by a series of high-profile exits. As well as the aforementioned names, the likes of Laurent Rossi, Marcin Budkowski, Alain Prost, Alan Permane, Pat Fry, Davide Brivio, Matt Harman and Bob Bell have all jumped ship.

Oakes was seen as being the new face to lead Alpine into the future, but the team have lost all sense of identity and direction and are now under full control of the ruthless Briatore.

Uncertainty over drivers

Despite replacing Doohan with Colapinto, uncertainty remains over Alpine’s long-term driver line-up.

Alpine have taken the unusual step to only hand Colapinto a five-race deal alongside Pierre Gasly, explaining they will conduct a “new evaluation” before the British Grand Prix in July.

According to Alpine, Doohan remains an “integral part of the team” and will act as the “first-choice” reserve driver during that timeframe.

Doohan’s loss is Colapinto’s gain, but the 21-year-old Argentinian will have to impress quickly if he wants to retain his place on the F1 grid after getting a second opportunity to showcase his talents. He also brings significant financial backing, providing a hint at one of the influencing factors behind the eyebrow-raising decision-making at Alpine.

Colapinto will be immediately thrust into an Imola-Monaco-Barcelona triple-header, before a standalone round in Canada, and then Austria. This five-race spell will ultimately determine whether Colapinto makes the cut. He will have little chance to settle in and is under instant pressure.

This will unlikely faze Colapinto given his unorthodox F1 journey so far, having caught the eye during a nine-race cameo for Williams at the back-end of 2024, but it is not an ideal scenario.

It also raises the question of what will Alpine do if Colapinto does not meet expectations? Do they bring back Doohan? Will Paul Aron - or another one of the many reserve drivers on their books - get a chance?

It has been a turbulent few years for team Enstone and the latest developments give little reason to suggest that is going to change any time soon.