Oliver Oakes resigned from his role as principal of the Formula One team in a shocking move.
Oakes took over from Bruno Famin and has been playing a role in less than a year.
The former Hitech GP boss played a key role in Alpine’s revival late last year as he recovered to sixth place in the constructor’s championship.
His resignation is a complete surprise.
Alpine is expected to change drivers before the next round at Imola.
Jack Douhan is planning to give way to Franco Colapinto.
Colapinto has been part of the Alpine Driver Pool since the beginning of this year and has been a favorite of Flavio Briatore.
Briartoll is Alpine’s executive advisor and works with Oaks.
The Oaks have publicly supported Doohan in recent weeks, but Australians are likely to lose their seats.
The reason behind Oakes’ sudden departure is still unknown, but one theory proposed is that there may have been disagreements about whether Doohan would be replaced just six races in 2025.
Briatore will cover the Oaks duties following his exit ahead of Imola next weekend.
The team issued the following statement Tuesday evening:
“The team quickly accepted his resignation.
“As of today, Flavio Briatore will continue as an executive advisor and will also be responsible for the duties previously performed by Oliver Oakes.
“The team would like to thank Oliver for his efforts in helping him rank sixth in the 2024 Constructors Championship since he joined last summer.
“The team will not comment any more.”