F1 News
New Alpine team boss must make important decisions straight away
- Cas van de Kleut
Oliver Oakes was thrown into the deep end at Alpine when he joined just after the summer break. The team boss acknowledges that he is facing a big job, but he is delighted to have joined when he did as it gives him time to plan for the 2026 season when the rules and regulations are introduced.
Which engine will Alpine use in 2026?
For a while now, there has been talk about which engine Alpine will use in 2026. Parent company Renault have already started on work ready for the regulation changes, but it is far from certain that the former Formula 1 team will supply the engines to Alpine.
Oakes confirmed talks are still ongoing: "There's all those discussions. At the end of the day, you want the best engine in the car. That's a discussion I think Luca [de Meo] is evaluating at the moment."
New Alpine team boss faces a 'big job'
Alpine have reached a crossroads. Despite that, Oakes feels fortunate due to the timing he joined: "I feel fortunate I'm starting now because the next six months is the most crucial, though to early part of 2026, because we're making those key decisions at the moment. What do you carry over for 2025? Are you allocating resources for 2026? Straight into the decision making process of that which is nice. Something before joining I was quite naive about the compromises going on."
The fact that important decisions are being made also brings extra pressure: "It is a big job. I knew that before I took it. There’s good and bad. Bad bit is there’s lot to do and I was straight in after shutdown. Good thing is there’s lot of things you can improve on quickly. A lot of support there with Luca and Flavio [Briatore]. I’m excited about that. It takes a long time and nothing is as quick as you hope. You have to build trust as well. This team has been through a lot."
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton