0
Flavio Briatore has expressed bewilderment at Alpine's inability to win races despite what he considers a complete package. The Alpine executive advisor, speaking to The Race, said the team now possesses all the necessary ingredients for victory following a switch to Mercedes power units and significant factory investment, but has yet to translate those resources into trips to the top step of the podium.
Alpine sits sixth in the constructors' championship at the summer break, a remarkable turnaround from last year's tenth and final place finish. Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto have delivered solid performances through the opening half of the season, yet Briatore's expectations extend far beyond consolidating a midfield position. For a man who oversaw back-to-back world championships with Fernando Alonso at Renault, sixth place represents potential squandered rather than progress celebrated.
The Enstone squad abandoned its own power unit programme over the winter, opting instead to become a Mercedes customer. That decision has paid immediate dividends in terms of performance, lifting Alpine out of the constructors' basement. Briatore described the partnership as "really super" and credited the team with selecting "the right partner." Combined with what he characterised as substantial financial commitment to infrastructure, the foundation for success appears solid.
The missing ingredient
Yet infrastructure and hardware alone have not delivered the step change Briatore demands. "We have everything we need to win," he told The Race. "We invest a tremendous amount of money in the factory. We have everything, we just need to put the puzzle pieces in the right place. To do that, you just have to be a bit more creative than now. We need to take more risks than we do now."
The call for greater risk-taking suggests Briatore sees conservative decision-making as the barrier between Alpine's current position and genuine race-winning form. Whether that conservatism manifests in car development philosophy, race strategy, or operational approach remains unclear, but the implication is that Alpine possesses the raw ingredients without the boldness to deploy them effectively.
Briatore's benchmark
Briatore's frustration centres on specific competitors. "I just don't understand why we don't know how to win," he said. "I don't know why we're not beating McLaren at the moment, or why we're not doing that at Ferrari. We've done it before, it's really a matter of believing in what you do. That's just the question, if you want to beat these teams."
The reference to past success is telling. Alpine, in its previous Renault guise, has indeed beaten both McLaren and Ferrari in championship cycles. Briatore himself presided over that era. His expectation is not rooted in fantasy but in institutional memory, which may explain why the current gap feels so incomprehensible to him. Alpine has the Mercedes engine that powers the constructors' championship leaders. The budget has increased. The driver lineup has stabilised. Yet the wins remain absent.
The belief question
Briatore's diagnosis ultimately hinges on psychology rather than hardware. "It's really a matter of believing in what you do," he said, framing Alpine's shortfall as one of conviction rather than capability. That places the onus on technical leadership and operational culture to extract performance the Italian insists already exists within the organisation.
Whether Briatore's assessment is accurate or optimistic will become clear in the second half of the season. Alpine has the platform. What remains uncertain is whether the team can adopt the creative, risk-taking approach Briatore believes is necessary to close the gap to the front, or whether sixth place represents closer to Alpine's true ceiling in the current regulatory cycle. The executive advisor has made his expectations clear. Delivering on them falls to others.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
I. Hadjar
A. Antonelli
C. Leclerc
0 members have this team as their favourite
Replies (0)
Login to reply