Eddie Jordan reveals Flavio Briatore ‘promise’ for Alpine success in ‘magic wand’ verdict
Alpine announced the return of former team boss Flavio Briatore as an executive advisor at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix
Former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan revealed Flavio Briatore’s “promise” that Alpine will be back on the podium by the 2026 or 2027 season, having struggled in 2024 so far.
Alpine had started the season with the slowest car on the grid, but while they have worked their way back up into the midfield, they sit eighth in the current Constructors’ standings.
Eddie Jordan gives Flavio Briatore ‘magic wand’ endorsement for Alpine future
Former eponymous team principal Jordan explained that Briatore, who was formerly team boss himself at Enstone during their title-winning days as Renault in the mid-2000s, has a metaphorical “magic wand” when it comes to bringing about improvements at a team.
Briatore returned to the team as executive advisor earlier in 2024 as they looked to bring about a change in fortune, with a new team principal now in place in Oliver Oakes, the former Hitech GP boss elevated to his first such role in Formula 1 after a successful stint in the junior categories.
And when it comes to who could be a big mover on the grid in the years to come, with a significant shake-up in the Formula 1 regulations in 2026, Jordan backed Team Enstone to be in there, in no small part due to Briatore’s influence – with the Italian revealing his belief the team will be back among the podium finishers within the next three years.
“No doubt about Alpine,” Jordan told the Formula For Success podcast when asked about which teams could be in among the front-runners in the coming seasons.
How the drivers are matching up against each other in the F1 2024 season
? F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
? F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
“I could be having a meeting with one of my major sponsors, or my bank manager or whoever, and Flavio just burst in. That’s the way he was – but that was reciprocated, I would do the same, and that doesn’t happen now, but Flavio was a very special man in my time in Formula 1.
“Some things I hated him for, and some things I loved him for, but you know what he will do, and he gave me his word: ‘I promise you, Eddie, by ’26 or ’27, Alpine will be on the podium.’
“I’m not going to stand up and say I disagree, because I actually do agree. He has a magic wand that is able to make things happen.
“Flavio wants to build the best car possible, we’ve already said this, and then the best driver will naturally be attracted to that car – and that’s his way. That’s his philosophy.
“Other people go the other way around. Get the best driver, let’s see how we can make it work, like that’s what Ferrari’s point [is] – get Lewis Hamilton.”
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