It has emerged that days before Oliver Oakes resigned as team principal at Alpine, his brother was arrested by police.

When Alpine announced on Tuesday evening that Oakes had resigned with immediate effect, it was widely assumed that his decision was related to reports that Jack Doohan was to be dropped in favour of Franco Colapinto.

Indeed, less than 12 hours later the French team officially confirmed that the Argentine would partner Pierre Gasly for the next five races.

However, Flavio Briatore subsequently took to social media to insist that Oakes decision was purely down to personal reasons, and comments from the Briton appeared to back this up.

Now, however it has emerged that Oakes' brother, William, was arrested by the police at Silverstone a week earlier.

"William Oakes, 31, of Rugby was charged with transferring criminal property on Friday, May 2 after he was stopped in the Silverstone Park area in Northamptonshire on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in possession of a large amount of cash," say the Metropolitan Police.

"He appeared before Northampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday, May 3, and remanded in custody."

Seemingly, Oliver subsequently headed to Dubai.

Of course, Oliver Oakes arrived at Alpine with a solid reputation having been the driving force behind Hitech, which had achieved success in F2 and F3 and even submitted a bid to enter the Formula One World Championship in 2026.

Hitech was originally founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle but it was in 2015 that Oakes essentially revived the team. Partnering with ART Grand Prix it contested the 2016 FIA F3 European Championship, while in 2020 it expanded into F2, one of its drivers being Nikita Mazepin.

On signing Mazepin, his father Dmitry's company Uralkali became a sponsor and partial owner of the team, the Russian subsequently increasing his stake to 75% courtesy of a Cyprus-based investment company Bergton Management Ltd.

In the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, by which time Uralkali had become a sponsor of the Haas F1 team, for which his son now drove, Bergton's shares were sold to Oakes who subsequently formed a new company Hitech Global Holdings Ltd. This company was formed just three days after Mazepin and his son were sanctioned by the British Government and the European Union.

It is unclear how much money William Oakes had in his possession, its origin or its destination, but let us daydream that it was "north of a billion" and to be used to purchase Alpine on Dmitry Mazepin's behalf, the Russian having made a surprise visit to pre-season testing in Bahrain just a couple of months ago.

"Dmitry was on a personal visit," a spokesman for the Russian told ESPN at the time. "He has remained friends with many people in the Formula 1 family and was happy to see them in Bahrain."

As questions were asked at to how Mazepin had obtained a pass, attention turned to Oakes, who denied that it was him.

"Yes. I've said hello to him, I haven't met him," he said. "Yes, he's a friend of mine, yes I used to be together with him in Hitech.

"He was here catching up with another friend of his," he added. "It's nice to see him. I'm not going to go into that, the world's a crazy place".

And it subsequently got a little crazier.

Indeed, we're wondering how Drive to Survive will handle this... it has all the makings of a mini-series of its own.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Italian Job, 11/05/2025 20:09

"@Ricardo_sanchez, @Esteemed Editor:
Why would Flavi allow anyone to break his habit of a lifetime?
Let's think
Ask Daddy Verstappen about fuel filters,
Ask the FIA about launch control,
Ask Piquet Junior about Singapore.
I am sure that there's more . . . . .
"

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2. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 11/05/2025 13:29

"@Editor - many a word said in jest…"

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3. Posted by Editor, 11/05/2025 12:52

"@ Ricardo_sanchez

Re: Flavio Briatore was reportedly furious about, as that’s traditionally been his role.

Ouch!"

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4. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 11/05/2025 10:46

"Rumours emanating from Alpine suggest there was a danger that Oakes might have brought the sport into disrepute - a move Flavio Briatore was reportedly furious about, as that’s traditionally been his role."

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5. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 11/05/2025 10:42

"@trackrecords - thanks for reminding us of that Tyrell scandal. I’d forgotten about it. It was 1984 and a bit after the brake cooling trick. This one involved injecting water into the engine intake of the team’s comparatively underpowered, naturally-aspirated Ford V8s, I think. The team was disqualified from the championship for adding a water and lead shot mixture (unfixed ballast) during pit stops to bring the car back up to weight. The FIA found traces of fuel in the water tank, which also led to an allegation of illegal refuelling which Tyrell always refuted. The team was excluded from the rest of the season and had all results annulled. Definitely not Ken’s finest hour. "

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6. Posted by trackrecords, 10/05/2025 23:59

"@Tyrbiter, I seem to recall in the 80s turbo era, cars had 'water-cooled brakes' that were allowed to be topped-up, pre-scrutineering. Tyrell were accused of somehow having added a quantity of lead shot as well as water to their car's water tanks... "

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7. Posted by Max Noble, 10/05/2025 9:56

"@Esteemed Editor - When you frame it like that it really highlights his beastly rotten luck! :-) …and of those two remaining plods… one should have been on tea break!"

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8. Posted by Editor, 10/05/2025 8:12

"@ Max Noble

Yes, it would appear that poor old William was unlucky to have encountered the three - or is two - remaining plods not patrolling the internet for hurtful memes or hateful emails, or those detaining a father who has complained about his daughter being raped, or the woman praying in her head outside a clinic, or the man accused of blasphemy.

Really amazed how the rozzers found the time, I mean it's so rare to see them on the street these days."

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9. Posted by Max Noble, 10/05/2025 3:05

"Fascinating! Curious how the old bill just happened to be plodding past as the chap with the large sack marked “Swag” happened strolling in the other direction! How coincidental! Wonder how they happened to be there at the right time…?

…and then Dubai… which signed an extradition treaty with the UK for the specific intent of addressing money laundering… Apparently it is not being well applied… We might be about to see it in action…

If this was a Tom Cruise movie we’d all be calling the plot impossible!
"

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10. Posted by Tyrbiter, 09/05/2025 21:33

"Can anyone imagine Ken Tyrrell or his ilk getting involved in this sort of enterprise? No, anyone suggesting it would have been treated to a froth job and been shown the door tout de suit."

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11. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 09/05/2025 20:32

"I think, maybe, and I have no proof of this but what if Hitech is part of a money laundering scheme with the Russians and possibly Emeratis. Maybe little bro was nabbed with a bag of laundry under his arm? Whatever the case, we'll need a Columbo to unravel all these backroom shenanigans at Alpine. Right now that team is basically image kryptonite."

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12. Posted by Anthony, 09/05/2025 20:04

"I particularly like “Yes, I’ve said hello to him” but at the same time “I haven’t met him”!

It does all sound very murky….."

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13. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 09/05/2025 14:04

"and there was I earlier extolling his "integrity" for resigning over a principle.......hmmmmm, maybe not so much"

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14. Posted by Chester, 09/05/2025 13:04

"Alpine sure seems to generate a lot of cloak and dagger adventures."

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Oakes saga takes a new twist

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