29/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Alpine boss, Flavio Briatore "guarantees" that the French team will win races in 2026.
Of course, the switch to Mercedes power units will no doubt help, but with the team still appearing to be in turmoil can he really turn things around.
"To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness," said Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
The same might well be said of Alpine, who not only allowed Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri to slip through its fingers, but Otmar Szafnauer, Pat Fry and Alan Permane, and only recently lost Oliver Oakes.
Nonetheless, Briatore, who steered the Enstone-based outfit to title success twice is confident the team can return to its winning ways.
"In 2026, we can win races, I guarantee it," he tells Le Monde, and in 2027, we want to be title contenders.
"In 2026, there will be no excuses," he insists, "we must be competitive.
"We owe it to Renault, to Alpine," he adds, though it will surely be Mercedes that picks up the credit while the French manufacturer foots the bills, "we're in this sport to win, and with the new regulations coming in 2026, the teams that interpret them best will have the edge."
The decision to drop Renault as its engine supplier caused shockwaves, but with the French manufacturer having won just 17 of the 236 (7.2%) races - the last of which was in 2021 - since the hybrid formula was introduced, yet was the driving force behind its introduction, the decision to switch to Mercedes was understandable.
The new engine supply, not to mention the lottery in terms of who best interprets the 2026 regulations, leaves Briatore hopeful of a change of fortune for the team.
"The easiest way to win is to sign Max Verstappen," he admits, "but we can't. So we have to work with what we've got.
"Choosing to switch to Mercedes power was a very difficult decision, but in this sport, to win, you need to have the same tools as the others. For a million reasons rooted in the past, we were at a disadvantage in that area."