Alpine’s recently appointed executive advisor Flavio Briatore says his ambitious plans for the French outfit will see it return to the top step of the podium in 2026.
Briatore, who masterminded championship wins for Benetton and Renault in another era, was recently brought back to the fore by Renault Group chief executive Luca de Meo, and the flamboyant F1 veteran isn’t shying away from lofty goals.
Despite Alpine currently sitting in the lower tier of F1’s midfield, Briatore sees Grand Prix racing’s upcoming regulation changes in 2026 as a golden opportunity.
“In 2026 I will win races, the Alpine will be on the podium. Then, how many we will be able to do, I don’t know,” Briatore boldly claimed, speaking on Radio Rai’s ‘La Politica nel pallone’ programme.
“This year we have many handicaps, we are reshaping the whole team. I have had full powers from Luca de Meo.
“I am used to using them and I guarantee that in two seasons we will be talking about podiums”.
Further fueling speculation is Alpine’s rumored plan to ditch its engine program and become a customer team, with Briatore reportedly pushing for a partnership with either Mercedes or Ferrari.
The 74-year-old F1 veteran is also reported to be a driving force behind Alpine's pursuit of outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to partner with Pierre Gasly in 2025.
“There is a lot of interest, we’ll see in the next few days, although right now for Alpine the driver doesn’t make a difference, we have to get the car right first,” he said.
“Incredibly he [Sainz] is still free, we are all willing to have him in the team and we will do what we can.”
Alpine’s transformation of late has seen the arrival of several significant technical recruits to strengthen its engineering department, a unit that was much in need of stability and transformation following the departures earlier this year of technical director Matt Harman – who has since signed with Williams – and head of aero Dirk de Beer.
Three senior figures started work this week at Enstone, arriving from Red Bull and Ferrari.
Michael Broadhurst and Vin Dhanani are returning to familiar territory. Broadhurst, a former Red Bull aerodynamicist for seven years, is back as Alpine's new chief aerodynamicist.
Dhanani, who kicked off his F1 career at Red Bull from 2006 to 2011, now heads up vehicle performance for Alpine.
The duo is joined by Jacopo Fantoni, who recently served as Ferrari's head of simulation in the design office.
The Italian engineer isn't a complete stranger himself – he previously worked alongside Alpine's new executive technical director, David Sanchez, during their 13-year tenure at Ferrari. He steps into the role of deputy chief engineer at Alpine.
It’s a new dawn at Alpine where everyone is hoping that the sun will continue to rise.
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