Alpine has taken important steps since Flavio Briatore returned to lead the project, but the executive admits he still cannot explain why the team remains distant from Formula 1 victories. Nevertheless, he believes that the work done so far is within the established goals.
In an interview with The Race, Briatore stated that he fulfilled the promise made to Renault (the owner of Alpine) for the 2026 season, by placing the team in a position to contest the leading spots in the midfield. Even though they lost fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship to Racing Bulls before the August break, he believes that the progress confirms that the plan is moving forward.
“It’s the first year in which we have, somewhat, the elements in place. Last year I promised Renault that we would be in the top six the following year. If we manage it, perhaps we’ll be in the top five. But clearly, the top six, moving from tenth to sixth, is already there. That’s what I promised,” he said.
Despite the progress, Briatore considers that Alpine has enough resources to fight for bigger results. According to him, the partnership with Mercedes for power units and the investments made in the factory’s infrastructure place the team in a favorable position, but it is still necessary to find higher performance: “We have everything to win. The deal we struck with Mercedes is excellent, because we chose the right partner. And we are investing a lot of money in the factory’s infrastructure, we have everything. We need to put the puzzle pieces together. To achieve this, we must be a little more creative than we are currently, take more risks,” he added.
The executive also expressed frustration at not seeing this potential reflected on the track: “I don’t know why we haven’t won yet. I don’t know why we haven’t surpassed McLaren, Ferrari! We’ve done this before. The only question is to believe in what you do and measure yourself against these people,” he concluded.
In comparing the situation with Aston Martin, Briatore argued that having a high-level structure does not guarantee immediate results, and he concluded that confidence in the project itself is a decisive factor in turning investment into performance.
