Flavio Briatore makes Alpine admission months after shock return to F1

The Italian returned to F1 in May of this year, having been appointed as an executive advisor by Renault CEO Luca de Meo

Briatore returned to Alpine as an executive advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo (Getty Images)

Flavio Briatore has said that Renault CEO Luca de Meo called him to say that Alpine were “in the sh*t”, and subsequently asked him to make a return to F1 as an executive advisor.

Briatore was previously banned in the wake of the 2008 ‘Crashgate’ scandal, in which Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed to hand an advantage to teammate Fernando Alonso. Despite originally being given a lifetime ban from the sport, the Italian returned to F1 in May of this year, having had his ban overturned in 2010.

The 74-year-old told the Formula For Success podcast that de Meo had previously ignored his advice, before later calling him to say that Alpine were in a difficult position.

“I know Luca for much before he’s arriving in Renault,” said Briatore. “When he arrived, I gave him some suggestions.

“‘Formula 1 is a very difficult business. The people you have are not so good’. He didn’t listen, zero. So after three years, he’s called me, we meet, [he says] ‘I mean, we are completely in the s**t with the team’. And I tell Luca, ‘Formula 1 is a different business. Formula 1, you need to have somebody dedicated to the team. Not [to] be corporate and not be bureaucracy, [you need] the team spirit etc’.

“And one day we’re talking, he told me, ‘Why don’t you come back to help me?’ And this started the conversation with Luca.

“I know the team, I know the factory, I know everything. So I tell [him], ‘Why not? I need to organise myself completely different, because I don’t want to go to every race. I don’t want to go live in England, maybe one day a week’.

“And this happened, you know, it was my old team. With this team, we won seven championships. And it’s the new challenge, it’s the new motivation. I’m very happy to come back.

“We have a new team principal [Oliver Oakes]. It’s Luca, myself and Oliver as team principal, and we are working like that.”

Alpine has had a difficult season so far in 2024, sitting eighth in the F1 Constructor Standings with just 11 points, and Briatore will need to determine the driving partner for Pierre Gasly going into next season.

But the Italian emphasised that “you need to put the team together from the commercial side, the technical side, the management side” before focusing on the driver, adding that “the driver makes no difference now” at the team’s current level of performance.

Briatore went on to promise that the team’s fortunes will soon change, adding that they will “have a podium” by 2027.

“Alpine, I promise you, give me two years, in two years’ time we see the podium. 2027 we have a podium,” he said.