Abu Dhabi F1: Alpine not here to make up the numbers - we want to be competitive, says team boss Oakes

Team battling Haas and RB to finish sixth in the constructors' championship at final race of the season in Abu Dhabi

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Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes was clear on what he hoped to achieve by the end of this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

“I want to keep P6, but that sounds kind of arrogant just off the cuff. It's going to be really tough to do because it's a really close fight between us, Haas and RB,” Oakes told The National in an interview before last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

“And obviously I know that it's going to be really competitive for these two races, but that's the target."

A retirement for Esteban Ocon and a fifth-place finish for Pierre Gasly salvaged 10 valuable points for Alpine in Qatar to aid their hopes of finishing sixth in the Formula One constructors’ championship.

The Enstone outfit enter the 24th and final stop on the 2024 calendar – the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – just five points ahead of Haas, and RB a further nine points behind.

“I think it's not lost on me that even if we don't achieve that, there's lots of positives to take. I just want to keep making progress with the team. I want to see us keep working in a much more open approach, really pushing ourselves to be better.

“And I think it would be interesting to see next year and the year after, if we can keep progressing like we have the past few months.”

'Thrown in at the deep end'

It has been a tough season for Alpine, who arrived in Bahrain for the opening race of the 2024 season with an overweight car and starting at the back of the grid.

Oakes took over as team principal in August, becoming the third different Alpine boss in just over 12 months, and the British former world karting champion knew he had a mighty task ahead of him – “thrown in at the deep end” – as he put it.

With a wealth of experience in motorsport, from being a driver, to developing talent, and founding Hitech GP in 2015 – a team which races in multiple categories including F2 and F3 – Oakes was brought in to help Alpine trend back in the right direction.

At 36 years old, he is the youngest team principal in the paddock, and the second-youngest ever at the helm of an F1 outfit.

Oakes’ initial aspirations was to join the F1 grid as a team owner of Hitech but his proposal was rejected by the sport's governing body the FIA.

He says taking on the team principal job at an existing F1 team “wasn't something which I was necessarily aspiring to want to do” but quickly realised it was a privilege to join a team with such rich history.

“I think it wouldn't be wrong to say that it was obvious to see we had a difficult start to the season. The car was not one which would go down in our proudest moments of the team from the years before,” he said.

“But also on the other side, there's reasons for that. And I think there needs to be honesty there of, 'how did we get into that situation just for the last 12-18 months? And how do we get out of it?'

“And I think from my point of view, I'd say, there's the basics to begin with, which is a little bit of getting everybody working together, moving in one direction, building up a bit of trust and stability in the team that was maybe missing."

Having the support of Renault CEO Luca de Meo and Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore attracted Oakes, as well as his belief that he could add value to a team, attracted Oakes to the project. Almost immediately, he had a major decision to make: to finalise a deal for the cars' power unit.

“I think as well, this team quite often got a little bit of mud slung at it, which was wrong. I think at the end of the day, the recent hot topic with our engine choice and what we were doing, whether we were going to remain a works team or not, and the emotion around that topic was one of the big priorities when I started. Because I think it was adding a little bit of question marks and instability in the team. And I think we've answered that now.”

A new era

At the end of September, Alpine announced they were shutting down their F1 power unit department based in Viry-Chatillon, as part of a "Hypertech" transformation project, and revealed last month they have secured a deal with Mercedes to run the German manufacturer’s power unit from 2026 until at least the end of 2030.

“I think people can see really a clear direction and a mandate of where we want the team to go, which is ultimately, we don't want to be making up the numbers. We want to be competitive,” Oakes said.

“And I think we also want to be honest that we're happy to challenge ourselves and benchmark ourselves with that decision as well. Which I think is a really good thing for the team.”

There has been an upswing in performance for Alpine over the past two months since they introduced an upgrade to the car package at the US Grand Prix in Austin.

A double podium in Brazil – the team’s first since 2013 – was a special moment, and after languishing in P9 when Oakes joined, Alpine now have a chance to finish P6 in the constructors’ championship.

“I think we're showing that we are a good team. We can develop a car, and we need to make sure between now and next year that we do a better launch car. And also we keep one eye to ‘26 as well,” Oakes added.

After a fantastic race in Brazil, Alpine walked away from Las Vegas empty-handed with Gasly suffering from an engine failure and a costly pit-stop mistake denting Ocon’s chances.

“That was pretty hard to take, really, because obviously then, the other two teams score, and then you go from having a bit of a buffer to, 'Oh no, we're behind',” Oakes said.

“Then it's two races to go. And that puts you in a difficult position. But also, that's part of the fun as well. It'll be sweeter if we managed to bring that home now.”

No interest in trash talk

Oakes is soft-spoken but his passion for racing shines through. He places special emphasis on team unity and says he has no interest in engaging in any trash talk, unlike some of the other team principals in the paddock.

“It doesn't really interest me or bother me,” he said. “I think maybe when you get to the real front of the grid, you start to use those mind games if you want to. But I actually think really differently on that. I think a little bit my job is to shield the team and protect them from that so they can do their job.

“I think really, as well, you don't talk about others until you've got your own stuff sorted. I think it's interesting, obviously, seeing that, whether it's different press conferences with other team principals or different media comments they make and all this kind of stuff. I think maybe because I'm the new guy and I'm younger, I'm not yet that bothered or into any of that.

“I guess it is a different world today in F1 thanks to Drive to Survive, everybody wanting content that perhaps some of that feeds that more and makes that more of a focus. But I guess I'm probably going to be quite boring that I don't really have any time or sort of interest for any of that.”

Managing the dynamic between teammates can be one of the toughest tasks of an F1 boss. Oakes’ philosophy is to let the drivers cool off after any incident and then give them the bigger picture.

“You've got to make sure that everybody knows where they stand in those situations. And it's important not to overreact as well,” he added.

“I think there's a lot of emotion involved. There's a lot of people putting oil on the fire in certain situations. And I really believe in, first thing is being quite firm, quite straight, and then having a good, honest, open discussion.

“Each driver is different. Some would automatically not be so emotional. Some would maybe be quite fiery, and I think that's kind of fun.

“I'm a big believer that people should be able to react in a way that's natural to them. We want them to be racers. We want them to be aggressive. That's why we go racing, because we're competitive. But equally, when you sit down afterwards and you talk about it, and you lay it out and how the situation really was, that's when you have to be quite firm to say, ‘Hey, come on, knuckle down now’.”

A lasting motorsport legacy in the Middle East

As someone who has frequented the UAE in different capacities for nearly 15 years, Oakes has witnessed firsthand the growth of motorsport in the country and across the Middle East.

He believes the region is “massive” for F1, with four races now taking place in the Gulf, in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. But he also sees the growth extend beyond just hosting grands prix.

“We sort of start the season in the Middle East, and then we end it in the Middle East, which is kind of cool,” said Oakes.

“But I think as well it's more deep and more tangible than that. Through my Hitech, we've raced in the Middle East since, I think, 2019 with all the junior categories. And I’d followed karting in the Middle East since 2010 – I think that’s the first time we went to Dubai for a race there. And I think what you can really see now is motorsport in general in the Middle East is really growing.

“You can see that by the quality of the championships in karting. You can see Formula 4 in the Middle East. You can see all of that growing all the time. Asian Le Mans comes there.

“I think as well, you can see the sort of natural ecosystem growing there, with teams based there, more circuits, more infrastructure, and more of a career path as well, not just for drivers, but even young engineers, young mechanics, people working in the industry. And I think that's really exciting.

“I think as well, what's really helping is the ladder now in motorsport. You've got karting, Formula 4, F3, F2, so you can see the route for young drivers. We've obviously seen that in F1 now with [Oliver] Bearman, [Kimi] Antonelli, [Franco] Colapinto getting their chances that has created much more momentum as well.

“And I think just all of that goes together to really make it something that's really positive across the Middle East, but also giving something back as well. Because at the end, it's easy for a sports event to come participate once per year and leave somewhere. I think you can really see how it's left a lasting legacy now.”

Oakes believes it’s only a matter of time before we see drivers from the Middle East competing in F3 and F2, and rising faster through the categories.

“I saw that the last couple of years with my Hitech when we raced in the Middle East, just the amount of local young engineers, graduates, asking to come along and be involved in what we were doing in the team and get that experience. And I think that was a real clear message of how much it's growing in the region, which is exciting,” he said.

“And I think there's obviously more and more drivers from the region as well, coming through the ranks. And I think in a year or two, you'll see as soon as they get into F3 and F2, in front of F1 with the exposure, the TV, people realise that more as well. It's already naturally happening, which is really great to see.”

Ocon out

Australian driver Jack Doohan, earmarked to take Ocon’s Alpine seat in 2025, will replace the Frenchman at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which would free up Ocon to get a head-start on his work as a Haas driver by getting behind the wheel in the post-season test at Yas Marina Circuit with his new team during next week's testing.

“I think it comes from all sides really. I guess you could say it’s good to get Jack in early, I think you could say, from Esteban’s side, it’s good to move on early. I think it suits everybody,” Oakes told reporters in Qatar before the decision was finalised.

Ocon posted a message on social media that might suggest otherwise, as he admits this was not the way he wanted to end his five-season stint with Alpine.

“To the hundreds of hard-working men and women at Enstone and Viry, I apologise that I will not be able to come see you in person and have a proper farewell,” wrote Ocon.

“As you know, the plan was always to race one last time this weekend and personally say goodbye to you all next week. I was looking forward to both of those things. This is not how I wanted things to end.”