Oakes: Alpine lucky to have Renault's support
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Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes believes the Enstone squad "is very lucky" to have the support of parent company Renault despite past claims that the manufacturer meddled too much in the F1 team's affairs.
In the summer of 2023, Alpine suffered a full-blown management crisis, with CEO Laurent Rossi dismissed from his role. The move was followed weeks later after the Belgian Grand Prix by the sudden departures of team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane.
Renault engine man Bruno Famin was subsequently placed at the helm of the French outfit on an intermediate basis, a period that extended until August of last year when Oakes was entrusted with Alpine's management.
Renault's Involvement in Team's Affairs
At the time of his exit, Szafnauer felt that Renault needed to extend its original 100-race timeline for success as devised by Rossi, a plan the American viewed as too ambitious.
Since, 74 Grands Prix have been held, with Alpine achieving but a pair of top-three finishes in 2024, courtesy of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly's memorable double podium in Brazil last November.
Speaking in early 2024, Szafnauer insisted that Renault's influence, through its chief executive Luca de Meo, loomed too large at the time.
"I think the best thing, and not just Renault but for big car companies to do – and I've seen it a lot, even with car companies that have racing as part of their DNA: they shouldn't meddle," said the former team boss.
"Leave it! It's so much different from a car company, you should just leave it to the experts."
Oakes Weighs In: Lucky to Have Renault Support
Queried on his predecessor's opinion, Oakes conceded that there were "elements of truth" in Szafnauer's opinion, though he caveated that view.
"What I would say is that it's not always one size fits all," Oakes told Motorsport.com.
"I think it's fair to say that elements of it are true – and he's a good mate, he's been here before – but I think people should also remember who pays the bills and who supports the team. And from my point of view, we're very lucky to have that support.
"It's easy to always point the finger at somebody who's 'meddling', but sometimes you have to ask yourself, well, why do they have to get involved? "Is it because we're not handling the stuff? Is it because we really have taken our eye off the ball?
"You can get frustrated at first, but then you step back and you say, 'Actually, we probably should have done that better, but we didn't want to hear that.'
"I don't think there's any need to hide things, or need to keep them at arm's length. I think at the end of the day we have to work together.
"We have to build that trust. F1 is a complex business, as is the automotive world, and you can't get it right all the time. I think obviously what's happened before – everyone has their views, their opinions.
"From my side, maybe things are a bit different now. Maybe Luca has more direct contact with me and Flavio [Briatore, Alpine's executive advisor since May 2024].
"Maybe the team has had to hit a bit of rock bottom to reset. I don't know. At the end of the day none of that is stopping you from making a good race car."
Staying Focused Amid External Pressure
When questioned about the weight of external expectations, Oakes dismissed such pressures, insisting his team's focus remains solely on continual improvement and running a well-organized operation.
"Everybody says to me, do you feel it like a weight on your shoulders or a pressure? And I really see it differently," the Briton insisted.
"There's no master plan. There's no stuff that's been said before, '100 races' and all that. We just have to get better. We have to be a well-run team.
"I think we just have to focus on ourselves. And even with all the noise about the power unit and all the talk about selling and all that sort of rubbish, I think people have already seen that we're just not really going to be bothered by that anymore.
"We're just going to keep our heads down."
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