What ‘a lot of people’ in the paddock are now saying about Alpine’s F1 future

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Alpine starts the second half of the 2024 season with the latest in what has been a revolving door of Formula 1 team principals in the last three years.

Oliver Oakes is the latest to assume the reigns from Bruno Famin, who has been reassigned to heading Renault’s reorganization of the power unit division in Viry-Chatillon.

Despite coming up from managing a Formula 2 team, Oakes has received universal praise from figures within F1 and is expected to help the team revive its fortunes after a more encouraging run of races before the summer break.

Alpine must now focus on regularly scoring points to close the 23-point deficit to Visa CashApp RB in the battle for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship on track but off track, there is a lot of speculation over what the future might hold for the French outfit.

Rumours of Alpine doing a deal with Mercedes to use their power units and gearboxes from 2026 have been swirling, ever since newly appointed executive director Flavio Briatore has joined and been seen in the F1 paddock speaking to other team principals.

It now appears that Alpine’s future could be even more uncertain, with journalist Andrew Benson revealing what everyone in the F1 paddock has been saying about the team in a Q&A on the BBC Sport website.

Alpine’s future uncertain amid sale rumours

Now that Renault is set to ditch producing an engine for the 2026 regulations, talk has turned to whether they will also continue as a team in F1.

Alpine staff have been told categorically that the F1 team is not for sale, but according to Benson things could be starting to change with the arrival of Briatore.

“The future of Alpine is very uncertain following the arrival of Flavio Briatore as executive director, and the apparently impending decision to abandon the Renault F1 engine programme and become a customer team,” wrote Benson.

“A lot of people in F1 think it looks like the team is being prepared for a potential sale.”

Uncertainty at Alpine

Alpine has been under pressure to turn around its fortunes since it turned up with the slowest car on the grid in Bahrain.

Several members of the technical team resigned as a result of the poor start to the season, including technical director Matt Harman and Dirk de Beer.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore

Since coming into the team, Briatore has pushed for Alpine to become a customer entity having also been seen talking to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Two entities are reportedly working ‘behind closed doors’ in the F1 paddock, including Andretti and Hietch who have previously had an application to join the F1 grid rejected.

The team has also yet to confirm its full driver lineup for 2025 after the departure of Esteban Ocon, although it is expected to go the way of Australian Jack Doohan after Alpine spent millions on his training.