Alpine has moved to end speculation about its chain of command after last week’s abrupt resignation of team principal Oliver Oakes.
In a statement issued ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Enstone outfit confirmed that executive adviser Flavio Briatore now “is fully in charge of the team, including duties previously held by Oliver Oakes,” while Racing Director Dave Greenwood has been appointed “team representative for administrative purposes with all relevant stakeholders.”
The wording underscores a split arrangement designed to satisfy Formula 1’s governance rules. Briatore, 75, lacks the operational licence normally required of a team principal, so Greenwood will handle official documentation, briefings and FIA sign-offs even as Briatore directs strategy and personnel.
Oakes stepped down two days after the Miami Grand Prix, ending a brief tenure that began when Alpine’s parent company Renault reshuffled top management last summer.
His departure created a power vacuum that critics said risked deepening the squad’s already turbulent year.
Alpine’s short statement reads in full:
“Alpine Formula One Team confirms that Dave Greenwood (Racing Director) has been assigned as team representative for administrative purposes with all relevant stakeholders. Whereas Flavio Briatore is fully in charge of the team, including duties previously held by Oliver Oakes.”
Dave Greenwood’s F1 Career
The 48-year-old Briton brings more than two decades of grand-prix experience to his expanded brief. After graduating in automotive engineering, Greenwood joined BAR Honda in 2000 as a vehicle-dynamics specialist. He switched to Renault in early 2005 and served trackside during Fernando Alonso’s back-to-back championship seasons, gaining first-hand knowledge of the Enstone organisation that Alpine now occupies.
In 2010 he moved to the fledgling Marussia team, rising to chief engineer and guiding its survival through the sport’s cost-capped era. When Marussia collapsed late in 2014, Ferrari recruited Greenwood to become Kimi Räikkönen’s race engineer. The partnership helped the Finn score multiple podiums and contributed to three consecutive runner-up finishes for the Scuderia in the constructors’ standings.
Greenwood left Formula 1 in 2018, spending stints as technical director for Manor and United Autosports in the World Endurance Championship, where he oversaw class victories at Le Mans. He later reunited with Oakes at Hitech GP, acting as head of special projects and leading the team’s push for a future F1 entry.
His return to Enstone this January as Alpine’s Racing Director gave the squad a calm, detail-oriented voice on the pit wall. Now, as team representative, Greenwood will also front all FIA meetings—an arrangement mirroring the set-up Stake uses with Alessandro Alunni Bravi.
The twin-track structure means Briatore can steer broader strategy while Greenwood ensures regulatory compliance. With Imola marking the first European round of 2025, Alpine hopes the clarified hierarchy will stabilise operations and refocus attention on improving the under-performing A525.