Franco Colapinto has replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine for the next five F1 races

He’s back. Flavio Briatore, who was once given a lifetime ban from Formula One after his role in the “Crashgate” scandal of 2008, has assumed the role of team principal at Alpine F1 after Oliver Oakes’ shock resignation.

Alpine said Briatore will continue to be referred to as an ‘Executive Advisor’, but will “also be covering the duties previously performed by Oliver Oakes”. And yes, it’s probably worth noting here that Briatore’s ban was lifted in 2010, leaving him free to return to F1 at any point after 31 December 2012. Oakes was in his job at Alpine for less than a year.

But that’s not all, because Alpine has also announced Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for the next five races. That means the Argentine – who has been fulfilling reserve driver duties at Alpine since being released by Williams in the summer – will race alongside Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix onwards. There will then apparently be “a new evaluation” before the British Grand Prix in July.

Doohan has had just six races in the hotseat at Alpine, but the 22-year-old is yet to score a point and so has now been demoted to “first-choice reserve driver”. Ouch.

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said new chief Briatore.

“With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our lineup.

“We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year. We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”