On Sunday at Interlagos, the struggling Alpine F1 team may have seen its bank account potentially rake in up to 30 million euros.
That's the admission of team executive advisor Flavio Briatore, who, following the decision to end Renault's factory F1 engine program for 2026, was recalled to revive the team's fortunes .
Alpine F1 started the Brazilian GP on Sunday penultimate in the constructors' championship, in a period of turbulent stability of its leadership and with a very uncompetitive car.
At the end of the race in very wet conditions, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were both on the podium alongside Max Verstappen. The huge points haul propelled the team to sixth place overall, overtaking Williams, RB F1 and Haas.
“Without taking anything away from an incredible Ocon in the wet and a Gasly who did his job well, we were also lucky,” Briatore comments.
“I think we have a car that is better in the wet. Unfortunately, I don't think the next three races will be in the wet. But in Brazil we saw with all these young drivers being presented as a new phenomenon what experience still counts in Formula 1.”
The 74-year-old readily admits that his goal since arriving at Enstone has not been to drastically improve the 2024 car.
“This year, we cleaned up more and we are still doing it. We only took one real step of development so as not to disrupt the 2025 project, and the step we took was in any case in view of 2025. That's all I authorized.”
“It went well because this year many teams went backwards when they made updates. Well done to our engineers.”
He made 300 people redundant in Enstone!
Briatore, the architect of the successes of the former Benetton and Renault teams, is known for running lean operations that are nonetheless successful.
“We need to get people working for a racing team again and not for a company. We are back to what Renault was before.”
“Those who remain take care exclusively of the team and F1. Everyone else has left. When I arrived there were 1,150 people, now there are 850.”
He made it clear that he fully supports Renault CEO Luca de Meo's decision to abandon Renault's factory engine program in F1 at the end of next year.
“We have put things back the way they should be, with the team based in Britain independent of everything else.”
Briatore admitted that he did not expect Alpine to achieve another similar result next time in Las Vegas.
“In Las Vegas, we will definitely suffer because it is an engine circuit. In the wet, the difference in engine power is practically zero. We have to make up this deficit for 2025, because we are missing about three tenths in the race alone. engine-wise, but we still need to do a good job improving aerodynamics and tire management, without feeling sorry for ourselves.”
If Alpine can maintain sixth place in the constructors' championship, which is far from guaranteed with Haas and RB F1 in better form and just a few points behind with three races still to go, this Sunday in Brazil will be remembered as a huge payday for the struggling team.
“From ninth to sixth place, it's not 30 million euros, it's 29.2 million. That's the first thing I asked. Now we have to keep this 6th place and that's not the case. It won't be easy, let's be honest. In any case, we saw an incredible Grand Prix.”
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