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Alpine executive consultant Flavio Briatore has insisted Oliver Oakes’ departure from the team was not down to any disagreement between them.

In a social media post Briatore claimed Oakes stood down for “personal” reasons and published a statement from the former team principal.

The team announced Oakes’ departure yesterday evening, 12 hours before confirming it would replace Jack Doohan as one of its drivers from the next round of the championship. Briatore was long rumoured to favour promoting Franco Colapinto in place of Doohan.

In his post, Briatore said claims of a rift between him and Oakes were incorrect.

“A lot has been said in the past 24 hours incorrectly associating the decision of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement or that we shared different views,” he said. “This is completely false and far from the truth.

“Me and Oli have a very good relationship and had long-term ambitions to drive this team forward together. We respect Oli’s request to resign and have therefore accepted his resignation. The reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature.”

Briatore, who returned to Alpine in his consultancy capacity last year, has taken over Oakes’ role following his departure.

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“I will continue to be more and more involved with the team, together with the strong management we already have in place. We will work hard on improving our position this season and preparing for 2026,” he added.

Five days ago, Oakes dismissed claims Colapinto would replace Doohan at Imola, saying: “As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre.”

The statement issued by Briatore quoted Oakes saying: “It is a personal decision for me to step down.

“Flavio has been like a father to me, nothing but supportive since I took the role, as well as giving me the opportunity. Everyone is in place for 2026 and where this team deserves to be.”

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