Oliver Oakes had a dazzling racing career in single-seaters, like what Christian Horner did before him, then he fell back on the leadership of Hitech, the team he founded, like Horner had done it with Arden Motorsport. The Alpine F1 director admits he would now like to achieve what his Red Bull counterpart did at the highest level.
“I think it was only when I took on this role that I realized some of these similarities” Oakes told Reuters. “I think that’s something to aspire to as well in terms of what they’ve achieved.”
As a driver, Oakes had even been supported by Red Bull. He thus rubbed shoulders with Helmut Marko, the Red Bull consultant, with whom he still maintains positive contacts. He also salutes the success of Red Bull in Formula 1.
“It's more about friendship than things to do in the daily work. He's been a great mentor to me over the years, with Helmut's carrot and stick approach, like all everyone knows that. But he’s phenomenal.”
“This team, this company, what they achieved – the triangular approach to management with Adrian (Newey), Helmut and Christian, all together. They were a kind of reference point for a lot of people.”
The Briton welcomes the collaboration at Alpine with Flavio Briatore and Luca de Meo: “Working with Flavio, who I've gotten to know closely over the last four or five months, I think the first thing that stands out is that they're not in it for the bullshit.”
“They're there to race. And they're extremely important because, you know, they actually get to the point. And I think that's often what you need if you want to perform well.”
One of Alpine's big decisions since the arrival of Briatore and Oakes is to abandon Viry's engines to collaborate with Mercedes: “I just want the best engine for the team. F1, as we can see at the moment, offers a very close battle at the front and in the middle of the track.”
“And so, selfishly, that's what I want. I wouldn't say that Alpine was mandated to be a French team. There is a mandate to be the best Formula 1 team possible.”
Oakes has been in motorsport for a long time and doesn't feel his youth despite being the youngest director on the grid: “I started racing at the age of four, then I did karting until I was 16 or 17. Then I continued until the age of 23 in single-seaters.”
“I can't remember how old I was when I started Hitech, I would say I was in my twenties. I don't feel young. I feel like I'm 'been competing forever.'
