‘I don’t know’: Briatore’s blunt verdict on Alpine’s winning chances

For all the talk of fresh momentum at Alpine, Flavio Briatore admits that there is no silver bullet to drag the Enstone squad back to Formula 1’s summit.

After a 2025 season that could charitably be described as a train wreck, Alpine has found some footing.

Franco Colapinto’s recent point-scoring breakthrough and Pierre Gasly’s dogged sixth-place finish in Shanghai – followed by a heroic 25-lap defensive masterclass against Max Verstappen in Japan – have injected hope into the French outfit.

Yet, as Briatore surveys the landscape, he isn’t promising overnight miracles. When pressed on the specific roadmap to the top step of the podium, he was uncharacteristically humble about the timeline.

"This is a very hard question," the 75-year-old initially told the media in Suzuka. "I don’t know.

"We try to do our best and to improve year by year. But now we have everything to be competitive. We are very happy with the engine we have. We are quite happy about all the team.

"Sure, we’ve done a lot of changes in the team, and we need to prepare the base, la pierre angulaire, to build up the team."

Commitment amid questions

The narrative surrounding Alpine has shifted from technical woes to existential questions.

The team’s transition from a full Renault works squad to a Mercedes power unit customer, paired with rumors of Mercedes sniffing around a 24% ownership stake, has fueled speculation that Renault might be looking for the exit.

Briatore, however, is adamant: the project is not going anywhere.

"It takes a few years, like everybody,” he explained. “We want to win, and we’ll see. We’re just working hard and see what happens.

"But we are very committed, Renault is committed, and the team is committed. So we see. We try our best like everybody else."

• Read also: Alpine issues fiery open letter on Colapinto, sabotage claims

The message is clear, if not entirely comforting for impatient fans: Alpine is still laying foundations, not celebrating breakthroughs.

For a team once synonymous with championship glory – think Fernando Alonso and Enstone’s golden era – the climb back to the top is proving longer and more complex than Renault’s initial five-year plan promised.

And if Briatore’s words are anything to go by, there’s no shortcut coming – just hard work, incremental gains, and a hope that, eventually, it will be enough.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook