BWT Alpine F1 Team

Team Principal - Oliver Oakes

Oliver Oakes is a British motorsport executive who became one of the youngest team principals in F1 history when he was appointed to lead Alpine in 2024. Born in 1997, Oakes had a brief racing career in karting and junior formulae before founding Hitech Grand Prix in 2015, which became one of the most competitive teams in Formula 2 and Formula 3. His success in running a multi-series operation and developing young talent caught the attention of Alpine's leadership. Oakes brings a fresh, data-driven approach to team management, combining youthful energy with a pragmatic understanding of what it takes to run a competitive racing operation. His appointment signaled Alpine's desire to modernize and inject new thinking into a team that had been through significant turbulence. Under Oakes, Alpine made the landmark decision to abandon its in-house Renault engine program and switch to customer Mercedes power units for 2026 - a move that has already shown dividends with the team sitting fifth in the constructors' standings with 16 points early in the season.

2026 Season

Career Stats

Team History

The team now racing as Alpine has one of the most complex identity histories in Formula 1, having competed under six different names since its founding. The story begins with Toleman Motorsport, which entered F1 in 1981 and is best remembered for giving Ayrton Senna his first F1 seat in 1984. Senna's extraordinary wet-weather drive at the Monaco Grand Prix that year, where he nearly won in an uncompetitive Toleman, remains one of the most iconic performances in the sport's history.

Ted Toleman sold the team to the Benetton family in 1986, and under the new name, the team became a genuine championship contender. Michael Schumacher joined Benetton in 1991 and won back-to-back world championships in 1994 and 1995, with the 1994 season marred by controversy over the legality of the car's electronic systems. Renault purchased the team in 2000, and a second golden era followed. Fernando Alonso won the 2005 and 2006 championships with Renault, becoming the youngest double world champion in F1 history at the time.

After Renault's factory involvement wound down following 2010, the team went through another period of rebranding - first as Lotus Renault GP and then Lotus F1 Team. Kimi Raikkonen won the 2013 Australian Grand Prix during this period, and Romain Grosjean established himself as a competitive driver. Renault bought the team back in 2016 and committed to rebuilding, though results were slow to come. Daniel Ricciardo joined in 2019 to help lead the project, scoring a memorable victory at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix.

The Alpine rebrand arrived in 2021, with the team racing in French tricolor-inspired liveries. Esteban Ocon won a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix that year for Alpine's first victory. However, the team struggled to make consistent progress up the grid, and internal politics led to frequent driver changes and leadership turnover. The most consequential decision came in 2025 when Alpine announced it would abandon its Renault engine program and switch to customer Mercedes power units for the 2026 regulations. This represented a major strategic shift, ending decades of Renault involvement in F1 engine development. With Oliver Oakes leading the team and the Mercedes power unit proving competitive, Alpine has started 2026 with renewed optimism, sitting fifth in the constructors' standings with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto delivering consistent points finishes.

Current Drivers

Interesting Facts

• The Enstone factory has produced cars under six different team names: Toleman, Benetton, Renault, Lotus, Renault (again), and Alpine.
• Ayrton Senna's first ever F1 race was with Toleman, the team's earliest incarnation, at the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix.
• Alpine's switch from Renault to Mercedes power for 2026 ended over 45 years of Renault engine development in Formula 1.
• Franco Colapinto is the first Argentine driver in F1 since Gaston Mazzacane in 2001, bringing back one of racing's most passionate fan bases.

Related Pages

• 2026 F1 Season Hub
• Pierre Gasly Driver Profile
• Franco Colapinto Driver Profile
• Mercedes - Engine supplier
• McLaren - Fellow Mercedes customer
• Williams - Fellow Mercedes customer