Oliver Oakes has resigned from his function as F1 staff principal in a shock transfer.
Oakes has been within the function for lower than a yr, taking on from Bruno Famin.
The previous Hitech GP boss performed a key function in Alpine’s resurgence on the finish of final yr as they recovered to sixth within the constructors’ championship.
His resignation comes as a whole shock.
Alpine are anticipated to make a driver change forward of the following spherical at Imola.
Jack Doohan is about to make approach for Franco Colapinto.
Colapinto has been a part of the Alpine driver pool for the reason that begin of the yr and is a favorite of Flavio Briatore.
Briatore is Alpine’s govt advisor and has labored alongside Oakes.
Oakes has publicly backed Doohan over latest weeks, but it surely appears to be like just like the Australian is about to lose his seat.
The explanations behind Oakes’ sudden departure are nonetheless unclear however one idea put ahead is that there might have been a disagreement over whether or not Doohan is changed after simply six races in 2025.
Briatore will cowl Oakes’ duties following his exit forward of Imola subsequent weekend.
The staff launched the next assertion on Tuesday night: “BWT Alpine Formulation One Workforce declares that Oliver Oakes has resigned from his function as Workforce Principal.
“The staff has accepted his resignation with fast impact.
“As of immediately, Flavio Briatore will proceed as Govt Advisor and also will be masking the duties beforehand carried out by Oliver Oakes.
“The staff want to thank Oliver for his efforts since he joined final summer time and for his contribution in serving to the staff safe sixth place within the 2024 Constructors’ Championship.
“The staff is not going to be making any additional remark.”
