Briatore lifts lid on failed Mercedes talks over Alpine F1 stake

Alpine F1 boss Flavio Briatore has delivered a blunt assessment of why Mercedes boss Toto Wolff walked away from negotiations to acquire a stake in the Formula 1 team.

At the heart of the talks lies the 24% shareholding owned by American hedge fund Otro Capital, which purchased its slice of the Enstone-based operation for $200 million in late 2023.

With Formula 1 team valuations continuing to soar, the stake has since been marketed at figures reportedly ranging between $600 million and $800 million.

But according to Briatore, that price tag proved a step too far for Mercedes.

Why Mercedes walked away

For months, Wolff had been engaged in talks to acquire Otro’s holding, a move that would have given Mercedes a direct ownership foothold in a rival F1 operation. However, those discussions came to an abrupt end recently.

Briatore was keen to stress that the matter sits outside the day-to-day operations of Alpine itself.

“Otro is nothing to do with the team,” he said on Friday in Monaco.“Otro is a hedge fund, they bought 24% of the team Alpine two years ago, and at the moment they want to sell. Like everybody knows, they were negotiating with Toto Wolff, behind the Mercedes team.

“Two days ago the agreement failed, all the negotiations. It really has nothing to do with the team, we don't have any pressure from Renault Group regarding Otro. This is really the problem of Renault Group, it's not the problem of the Alpine team."

Yet while Briatore distanced Alpine from the negotiations, he left little doubt about who he believes was responsible for the deal collapsing.

“It's very easy, the price was too high. Toto was very fair. I don’t think [the] Otro people are fair. Toto in all the negotiations was very fair,” he said.

The remarks amount to a striking public rebuke of Otro’s handling of the process and offer a rare glimpse into the tensions behind one of Formula 1’s most closely watched ownership stories.

Horner linked as uncertainty continues

With the Mercedes route now closed, attention has shifted to other interested parties. Among those linked to the stake is a consortium involving Christian Horner, whose future involvement in Formula 1 ownership remains a topic of speculation.

Briatore confirmed there are multiple conversations taking place, while emphasizing that Renault Group ultimately controls who can enter the fold.

“Otro is a Renault Group problem, not really a team problem,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of negotiations around, different people, including Christian. For me whatever solution is found by Renault, I'm very happy to accept whatever the solution is.

“Whoever buys the shares from Otro needs to have the blessing from Renault. I think it’s very difficult for somebody to spend $600 million to buy a minority in one company if it's not agreed with the majority.

“I don't understand the politics of Otro honestly, because in this moment, it's going nowhere.”

• Read also: Mercedes reportedly abandons Alpine F1 stake talks

As for the prospect of working alongside Horner, Briatore sounded far more enthusiastic.

“I'd be happy to work with anybody,” he said. “For me, welcome, I have zero problem, especially with Christian.

“I have a super relationship with Christian. I’ve known him for 20 years, and we were working together on the engine, I supplied the engine at the time with Renault. We were working for five together. Zero problem.”

For now, however, the biggest story is not who might buy into Alpine – but whether anyone is willing to meet the asking price.

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