Flavio Briatore's Alpine return, Renault past, prison sentences and F1 ban

Flavio Briatore's Alpine return, Renault past, prison sentences and F1 ban Newspoint | 07/05/2025 23:39:09

Plenty of people in would love to see the back of and, for many years, it seemed that they had got their wish. But not only is he back, but he is as powerful as ever at .

as an executive adviser, it was clear from the off that he was the man in charge. Oliver Oakes was the team principal chosen after last summer, but it was clear his say was never the final one.

And now any pretence of that being the case has been completely ceased. , which Alpine announced late on Tuesday, leaving Briatore in full command of the Enstone outfit.

It is the first time he has held the team principal position since he was ousted by in August 2009. It wasn't long after that the 'Crashgate' scandal came to light, which led to him being banned from F1 indefinitely by – a sanction which led to an ugly court battle.

But neither scandal nor the legal system were strangers to Briatore long before even that episode. It was back in the 1980s that Briatore was convicted by Italian courts of various counts of fraud and, though, he had both his sentences reduced on appeal, he never went to prison as he lived as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands.

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It was after he was given amnesty that the Italian returned to Europe. But even while away he had continued to work with the Benetton clothing company, which brought him into the F1 after it bought the Toleman team in 1985, with Briatore appointed as team manager five years later.

In 1991, a young was snatched from the grasp of and so began an iconic partnership. With the big future star of F1 driving his cars, Briatore helped turn the team into not only title contenders but drivers' champions in back-to-back seasons in 1994 and 1995, before losing Schumacher to .

By that point, Benetton were already using Renault engines and the French carmaker bought the team out prior to the 2000 season. Briatore had been removed in 1997 due to the team's decline but he was brought back by the new owners as team principal and, three years later, he brought in a young , who he managed, firing to make room.

The team reached the front of the F1 grid and Alonso won the 2005 and 2006 titles. But, again, there was a decline and it was when 'Crashgate' became public that Briatore resigned. Former driver alleged that he had been asked to crash by the Italian and chief engineer Pat Symonds in the 2008 , to benefit team-mate Alonso.

The FIA banned Briatore from F1 indefinitely but he contested that in the French courts and won, the ban overturned in January 2010. He later said the he had no interest in returning to F1 despite now being allowed to, though he clearly had a change of heart on that as, last year, he accepted the approach from Renault to join as an executive adviser.

But though that was his official title, it was clear that he was the one asked to run things by De Meo. And since he returned there have been plenty of big changes, but none of them as significant and as divisive as the one to and transition away from being a works team to instead use power units from 2026.

And now, following Oakes' exit, Briatore has the title as well as the power. Whether or not he can deliver success like he did in the 1990s with Benetton or in the mid-2000s under Renault branding remains to be seen.

What is certain is that, with 'Flav' around, there is never likely to be a dull moment at Alpine. Then again, with so much going on behind the scenes, chaos was no stranger at Enstone even before his return.