Suggestion ‘something more rotten’ behind bombshell Alpine F1 exit
The exact reason behind Oliver Oakes' sudden Alpine F1 exit remains a mystery.
Karun Chandhok believes “something more rotten” was behind Oliver Oakes’ shock resignation from the Alpine F1 team.
Alpine were rocked by Oakes’ decision to quit his role as team principal with immediate effect following the Miami Grand Prix, just 12 hours before the team announced that Franco Colapinto would be replacing Jack Doohan for the next five races.
Suggestions that a disagreement between Oakes and Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore over the driver swap were made, and quickly dismissed by Briatore.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Briatore denied reports of a rift between himself and Oakes, insisting the 37-year-old Briton had stepped down due to personal reasons.
"I smell a rat. I think there's something more rotten in the state of Alpine,” Chandhok told the Sky Sports F1 podcast, which was recorded prior to Briatore’s statement being issued.
"He hasn't quit based on just a driver decision here. He's not quit the chance to be one of the 10 team principals of the top of the sport, based on who's going to be in the second seat.
“In terms of ability between Doohan and Colapinto, there’s not much to choose I think between them really, they are sort of same for same. So for me, there's more going on here that hasn't yet come out in the wash.
“I suspect there’s something more going on behind the scenes that’s not yet unfolded. We know Olly was bringing in a load of his trusted lieutenants from Hitech, people like Dave Greenwood and some of the engineers he was bringing into the team.
“There’s been a bit of a brain-drain at Enstone. I heard last night that they’ve lost another five people to Cadillac from the race team, across the board from mechanics to things like that.
“They are a team that have had seven team bosses since 2020. Seven bosses in five years… That doesn’t exactly scream stability, does it?”
What caused Oliver Oakes’ shock departure?
Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater suggested it could be weeks or even months before the reason for Oakes’ exit comes to light.
“The guidance I’ve received back is no-one is backing up the idea that it’s because it’s because he objected to Colapinto being swapped in for Doohan,” Slater explained.
“When I suggested is it because he felt his own role was undermined by Flavio Briatore taking the big decisions it’s been explained to me that no, actually Oliver Oakes was relatively comfortable running the factory and the racing side of the operation, while Briatore handled the big political stuff.
“They wanted a model similar to McLaren where Andrea Stella ran and steered the ship and Zak Brown in a sense did the politicking.
“Now there might be an element where Oliver Oakes feels perhaps Briatore is stepping into his terrain a little bit, but all the indications I've been given is that his departure is not necessarily linked to the driver swap. It's maybe something else.
"Perhaps it's a convenient moment for him to step aside in the shadow of this. I think it’s only weeks or months down the line that we’ll get his side of the story. I think something else has caused him to quit. It was his decision to go.”
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