Alpine
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman with no background as a racing driver or engineer; his path to F1 came through his business relationship with Luciano Benetton, who appointed him commercial director of Benetton Formula in 1989. He rose to team principal, guiding Benetton to Drivers and Constructors championships with Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995, then led the rebranded Renault F1 Team to back-to-back doubles with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006. He was forced out of F1 in 2009 after the Crashgate scandal, though a French court later overturned his FIA lifetime ban. He returned to the same Enstone-based team in May 2024 as Executive Advisor at the request of Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, and assumed de facto team principal responsibilities in May 2025 following the resignation of Oliver Oakes, with Steve Nielsen appointed Managing Director to oversee day-to-day operations.