Flavio Briatore has denied that Oliver Oakes shock resignation from Alpine had something to do with the choice to drop Jack Doohan.
The Italian, who stays Government Advisor however will now l even be masking the duties beforehand carried out by Oakes, took to social media to shed additional gentle on the Briton’s surprising departure.
“Rather a lot has been mentioned previously 24 hours incorrectly associating the choice of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement or that we shared completely different views,” he posted on Instagram. “That is fully false and much from the reality.
“Me and Oli have an excellent relationship,” he continued, “and had long-term ambitions to drive this crew ahead collectively.
“We respect Oli’s request to resign and have subsequently accepted his resignation,” he added. “The explanations will not be associated to the crew and are of a private nature.
“I’ll proceed to be increasingly more concerned with the crew, along with the sturdy administration we have already got in place. We’ll work onerous on bettering our place this season and making ready for 2026.”
Briatore’s publish features a quote from Oakes, which reads: “It’s a private choice for me to step down.
“Flavio has been like a father to me, nothing however supportive since I took the position, in addition to giving me the chance.
“Everyone seems to be in place for 2026 and the place this crew deserves to be.”
Going into conspiracy concept mode, one has ponder whether Oakes’ choice was in regards to the potential sale of the crew.
Hitech was one of many groups that formally registered its need to enter the world championship in 2026, nevertheless its bid proved unsuccessful.
When Oakes subsequently joined Alpine there was hypothesis that he could be searching for to purchase the crew even when Renault and Briatore have constantly insisted that it’s not on the market.
Might it’s that Oakes has now discovered of a potential purchaser and is both sad with who this could be or just miffed that he missed out.
All conjecture after all, however one thing unusual is occurring and we have now been satisfied for a while that the French outfit is on the market… for the correct value.
