Oakes 'wasn't worried' about instabilityAlpine before becoming Team Principal

Since July 31st, Oliver Oakes has changed dimension. The founder and director of the Hitech GP team, present in the promotional formula, has entered the big league by becoming Team Principal ofAlpine en Formula 1. Since then, the British leader has already experienced many highlights, with an improbable rise to 6th place in the Constructors' Championship and a double podium for his drivers in Brazil, but also some controversies, such as the premature dismissal ofEsteban Ocon before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix or more generally, the end of the engine program in 2026 and the transition to customer team status Mercedes.

Over the past five months, Oliver Oakes has had to step into the shoes of a Formula 1 team principal in a difficult environment for Alpine. Since the arrival of the arrowed A in Formula 1 in 2021 – having taken up the torch from Renault – the French team has already had four different Team Principals (Marcin Budkowski, Otmar Szafnauer, Bruno Famin and Oliver Oakes), not to mention the numerous movements and departures over the past three years (Laurent Red, Davide Brivio, Matt Harman, Alan Permane…). An instability that did not scare the British leader upon his arrival last July.

"I wouldn't say I was worried about the comings and goings. My apprehension was more of a personal nature, because I have a young family, a supportive wife, so I'm lucky in that respect, Oliver Oakes points out in the Beyond the Grid podcast. I think everyone knows that I have my own team, Hitech GP, in the junior categories. I wouldn't say it was difficult to leave, because it's still my company, I care about them and they are strong without me, but I think my apprehensions are more about my life choice. You could say I'm naive, but I really believe it's a privilege and a great responsibility to be a team principal. You don't have to worry about the comings and goings. It's the responsibility that you have to take on."

oakes " n / A not lost sight of what happened before" in Alpine

Despite his experience in the promotional formulas with Hitech GP, the 36-year-old Team Principal – one of the youngest in the history of Formula 1 – questioned himself at length about his abilities before accepting this position, he who must now manage a team of nearly a thousand employees and two factories. He also admits to having asked himself some questions about the departures of certain managers before his arrival, but he confides that he was reassured by Luca de Meo, boss of the Renault Group, and Flavio Briatore, executive advisor to the team. Alpine, before signing his contract.