Fisichella thinks a Flavio Briatore-Christian Horner combo could work at Alpine

2025 hasn’t been a good year for Alpine. The French constructor stands 10th in the standings with only 20 points. The car has played catch-up with the rest for the season so far with the best result coming at Silverstone, where Pierre Gasly managed a fifth-place finish. The team also underwent a driver lineup change, replacing Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto after the Miami Grand Prix.

While Alpine’s fortunes have been in a downward spiral this season, former F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella believes new regulations can spring new life. He also talked about the team moving to Mercedes engines next season, Flavio Briatore’s stewardship and the possibility of Christian Horner joining the team.

A Briatore-Horner combination would be a great compromise

Fisichella had his career-best performances under Flavio Briatore’s stewardship of Renault, and he has backed his former boss to make the team competitive.

"I think Briatore is the man. I worked with him for many years and we were able to win two Constructors' and two Drivers' Championships."

"Flavio is the right man. I'm quite positive for him and Alpine."

Briatore’s personality is different from that of the team principals of today. Fisichella acknowledges that Briatore isn’t the same as the likes of Toto Wolff and Zak Brown, but his old-school style is what is needed at Alpine.

"It's nice to have different personalities on the grid. Toto Wolff is a fantastic team principal. Also Zak Brown."

"For Alpine, I feel Briatore is the right man."

With Christian Horner available to work in F1 in 2026, the Italian driver does see the merits of having him be the team principal at Alpine.

"I think Horner can come back to F1. He was a driver first of all and then he was Red Bull's team principal for 20 years and he won everything. For sure, one of the best team principals in the sport."

"Maybe a mix of Horner and Briatore could be a good compromise!"

Mercedes engines can help Alpine be strong next year

Despite Alpine’s struggles this year, Gasly signed a contract extension that would keep him at the team till 2028. In Fisichella’s view, this is because Alpine has the potential to be a leading team next season with Mercedes supplying power units and new regulations kicking in. Right now, they are out at 33/1 to simply win a race this season, and you can use our bet calculator to see how much you could earn if you fancy backing them as outsiders.

"I'm not surprised about Gasly’s because despite struggling this year, Alpine can have a comeback next year with new regulations, especially with the new engine. They moved from Renault to Mercedes. That was one of the options given by Flavio Briatore to the team. Because they know at the moment, the Renault engine isn't as powerful as the others."

"The car, it's about right and a good engine can help them get to the top ten."

"I know Briatore, I know most of the people in Alpine. So I think there's a lot of potential for them to do well next season."

Personally, I’m sad that Renault has exited F1

Alpine becoming a Mercedes customer next season marks the end of the road, for now, for Renault in F1, and Fisichella laments that decision. He had his greatest success with the French constructor, and he is sad to see them leave the sport.

"For me personally, it doesn't make sense. Mercedes race with their own engines. Ferrari race with Ferrari engines. Alpine is Renault, Renault is Alpine."

"Personally it's a little bit sad to see this."

Ultimately, the Italian understands the decision and, considering the competitive nature of F1, he says that it is the right thing to do.

"But if you want to win and you are two, three years behind in development, you cannot catch up to the other teams and then it's stupid to be in F1. If they want to be competitive in F1, they need to have the best engines. That's why this decision was made."

I feel bad for Jack Doohan, but this is F1

He gives another example of the ruthless nature of the sport by speaking about Alpine’s decision to replace Doohan with Colapinto. Fisichella has sympathy for the Australian driver but reiterates that there are only 20 seats on the grid and every mistake adds up.

"Getting in F1, starting the season and then getting replaced. It's never nice to be in that situation."

"It's a difficult situation and it will be difficult for Doohan to come back again. This is not good but this is F1. Unfortunately, it has always been like this."

"There are just 20 seats in the world and you cannot make mistakes. You cannot be slower than your teammate. There are a lot of reasons for it."

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