And who’s really in charge?
While IndyCar is Brickyard centric right now,
with only eyes for Mother Speedway. As I’ve typed many times before,
Motorsports never sleeps!
Alpine has long been Renault’s sports car brand
and the two firms have long associations with Formula 1. With Alpine’s dating
back to 1968 and Renault first being a Formula 1 Constructor in 1977.
Renault has been in and out of Formula 1 many
times, with it’s zenith being double world champions, i.e.; winning both
Drivers and Constructors titles back-to-back in 2005-06.
With the team’s low point being 2008’s Crash
Gate, for which a disgruntled Nelson Piquet Jr. divulged the following year
when sacked by Flavio Briatore…
Diehard f1 Afficionados will know that Renault
bought Benetton in 2000, and became the Renault F1 Team in 2002. Before
morphing into the Lotus F1 Team in 2012, then Lotus Renault GP, or visa versa?
Next becoming Renault Sport F1 Team in 2016 and finally Alpine in 2021.
The team has had much staff turnover since
becoming the BWT Alpine F1 Team, with then team principal Cyril Abiteboul leaving
after their transition from Renault to Alpine. As Davide Brivio, former Suzuki
MotoGP team boss took over for Abiteboul, albeit with mixed results.
In January 2022, Marcin Budkowski, who’d risen
to the role of director at Alpine, previously Renault’s executive technical
director. And non-executive director Alain Prost both left the organization.
With Otmar Szafnauer, previously Aston Martin’s F1 team principal, taking over
the same role at Alpine.
Meanwhile Bruno Famin was hired to lead
Renault’s Power Unit organization at Viry-Chatillon. And somebody named Oscar
Piastri replaced Daniil Kvyat as test driver, as we all know how that worked
out, El Correctomundo!
http://www.nofenders.net/2022/08/i-will-not-be-driving-for-insert-race.html
In July 2023 Laurent Rossi was replaced by
Philippe Kreis as CEO, before Szafnauer and longtime employee Alan “Bat”
Permane, having risen to Sporting Director were “let go” following the Belgian
Grand Prix. With Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry leaving at the end of the year
for Williams. Which are just some of the staff exodus over the past four years…
Monsieur Famin, who’d taken over as team
principal was replaced by Oliver Oakes during the 2024 F1 Summer Holiday and
began as team principal at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix on August 25th. Which
brings us full circle to the latest management shakeup.
As Renault hired the highly controversial HMS
Monogram’, aka Flavio Briatore to an executive advisor role last May, having
already noted Briatore’s role in Crash Gate, not to mention Benetton’s
legendous’ “trick” Option 13 launch control on the B194 chassis that Michael
Schumacher drove to the first of His eventual seven F1 world championships…
Briatore signed Franco Colapinto as one of the
team’s reserve drivers this January. for which I tend to recall that before the
season began, scuttlebutt suggested that Jack Doohan was only guaranteed six
Grans Prix races, with cynics suggesting this was why Doohan’s F1 debut was
pushed forward to last year’s season ending Abu Dhabi GP.
Naturally, Oakes shock resignation was
confirmed just days following the Miami Grand Prix; Tuesday, May 6th. One day prior to Alpine making official Doohan being replaced by Colapinto on a
five-race deal beginning at Imola, with the team’s statement saying nothing
more would be said regarding Oakes sudden departure.
Yet 24 hours later, Briatore, now the acting
team principal felt the need to comment further, claiming Oakes departure had
nothing to due with Doohan’s demotion to reserve driver and Colapinto’s
insertion into the Aussie’s race seat. And was of a personal nature instead.
For which that all seems a wee Bitamyte’ too convenient, or just plain good ‘Ol
CoInky-dense, eh? Since rumours suggest that Oakes felt under minded by
Briatore’s drivers decision…
Yet two days after Oakes resignation, it was
reported that His younger brother William Oakes, age 31 had been arrested by
the Metropolitan Police on the charge of transferring criminal property.
Claiming that He had a large amount of cash in His possession when detained
nearby Silverstone, where Hitech Racing’s located.
As William is listed as a director of Hitech
Racing, founded by older brother Oliver, with the latter not being implicated
of any wrong doing.
Whilst I’m doing my best to stay away from the
previous majority owner Dmitry Mazepin angle to this story. Yes, that’s former
Haas F1 driver Nikita “Mazaspin’s” father…
Although it’s also been pointed out by Racer’s
Chris Medland that the writing for Doohan as been on the wall ever since
Colapinto was signed to Alpine’s cast of rotating test and reserve drivers due
to His sizeable sponsorship backing from Argentina and previous race pace at
Williams last season.
But I simply do not understand how a rookie F1
driver is supposed to flourish in such a hostile environment! Since Doohan was
Alpine’s first Driver Acadamey member to actually graduate to a race seat,
albeit briefly. Meaning is it worth being an Academy member after all?
Since former Alpine Academy member Christian
Lundgaard is doing quite nicely in IndyCar now, currently lying second in the
championship – when I began scribbling this.
Alpine currently sits ninth in the vaunted F1
Constructors championship, only ahead of Sauber, who are in a transition year
before becoming the Audi Werks’ outfit next season.
As Briatore, who’s now 75 is tasked with making
Alpine into a winner once again, albeit for Mwah, it’s completely sacrilegious
over Alpine becoming a Mercedes customer team next year! But that’s another
story waiting to be laboriously poonded’ out here on No Fenders…
As can Alpine ever claw it’s way back to the
sharp end of the grid? Since they’ve only one once as a F1 Constructor, when
Esteban Ocon took an unlikely victory at the Hungaroring in 2021.
Prior to that, Renault hadn’t won a Grand Prix since the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix as a constructor. Albeit Red bull ran le Reggie’s 2.4-litre normally aspirated V-8 enginesas a customer between 2010-2013 enroute to four consecutive doubles championships, i.e.; F1 Drivers and Constructors titles…
