Alpine has a new leader.
Alpine has a new boss, less than a week after the team announced that Bruno Famin would step down as team principal to focus on a role overseeing all of Renault’s motorsport activities. The team announced on Wednesday that Oliver Oakes will take over as Alpine team principal from next month’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“We are delighted to welcome Oli to the team, making him one of the youngest team principals in the history of the sport,” said Renault CEO Luca de Meo. “This team is built for future success and Oli’s appointment to this senior role underlines that. We look forward to harnessing his enthusiasm, energy and passion for racing and implementing that mindset across the team.”
“We are delighted to have recruited Oli Oakes to our Formula 1 project. Oli is extremely talented and has a great track record of leadership and success in racing,” said Flavio Briatore. “His appointment to this role is a great example of the strength and belief in our team and our promising young talent. I am delighted to be working closely with him with our shared goal of moving up the grid and winning races.”
“I’m extremely grateful to Luca de Meo and Flavio Briatore for the opportunity to lead the BWT Alpine F1 Team into a competitive team again,” said Oakes. “With talented people and great resources at the heart of the team, I’m confident we can achieve a lot together, both for the remainder of this season and in the long term. I can’t wait to get started after the summer break.”
Oakes began his motorsport career as a racer, with a CV that includes winning the Karting World Championship in 2005. Oakes rose through the junior ranks and was briefly a member of Red Bull’s driver programme.
He then moved to Formula BMW, making his debut with Carlin Motorsport with both a pole position and a win. Oakes had three podiums and several other good results throughout the season, finishing sixth in the championship.
After wrapping up his driving days in 2010, he founded Team Oaks Racing, a karting team and management service, in 2011. Drivers who have worked for Team Oaks include Callum Ilott, Marcus Armstrong and Nikita Mazepin.
Oakes then founded Hitech Grand Prix in 2015 and has competed in various feeder programmes including F3 and F2. The team also expressed an interest in joining the F1 grid when the FIA opened the bidding process for F1 slots, but the FIA ultimately went with the joint proposal from Andretti and Cadillac.
Oakes himself will be bursting onto the grid at a time when Alpine is undergoing big changes. Not only is there still a seat available alongside Pierre Gasly, who was confirmed to be returning to Alpine on a “multi-year” deal earlier this season, but there is also speculation that Alpine may close its powertrain division and become a customer team, possibly working with Mercedes.
Will the other driver Oakes will be working with next season be revealed later this week or perhaps before Oakes’ pitwall debut?
Time will tell.
