Flavio Briatore has guaranteed the flailing Alpine team can win a race in 2026 and has set the lofty target of being world championship contenders by 2027.
Briatore is defacto team boss of Alpine — the name carried by Renault’s F1 operation — having assumed leadership duties following the shock resignation of Oliver Oakes at the start of May.
Alpine is currently ninth, with just six points to its name, having finished sixth in the championship the past two seasons.
Briatore returned to an advisory role last year and oversaw the decision to stop the production of F1 engines at Renault’s factory in Viry, France.
Alpine will switch to a Mercedes customer engine deal next season and Briatore is confident of an uptick in performance.
“In 2026, we can win races, I guarantee it, and in 2027, we want to be title contenders,” he told Le Monde.
“In 2026, there will be no excuses: we must be competitive. We owe it to Renault, to Alpine … 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.”
Alpine has won just a single grand prix since Renault’s return as a fully fledged manufacturer, via Esteban Ocon at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, and has found itself well off the pace under the current rules.
Next season will feature a sweeping regulation change on both the aerodynamic and engine side.
Although it is always a guessing game about which team and engine manufacturer will emerge with the best package, Mercedes is known to be very confident about the current status of its 2026 project. Briatore said the move away from Renault-made machinery has given Alpine an instant upgrade.
“The easiest way to win is to sign Max Verstappen, but we can’t. So we have to work with what we’ve got,” he said.
“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.”
