Briatore pleased to serve as Alpine's 'democratic dictator'

      "You will only remain in a company if you perform well."

      Flavio Briatore asserts that he has no regrets about replacing Jack Doohan with the highly regarded and well-sponsored Franco Colapinto. "He (Doohan) had five races to demonstrate his abilities," the 75-year-old stated to RTL, despite the 22-year-old Australian rookie actually being replaced after the sixth round in Miami. "After five races, we reviewed the results," the Italian remarked. "And I wasn’t satisfied with them.

      "You will only remain in a company if you do a good job. If you perform poorly, you get fired. Over a thousand people and their families rely on it.

      "I’m merely safeguarding the team that works for me," Briatore emphasized. "That’s why I always select the best possible driver for the car."

      Colapinto’s first race with Alpine was a mix of experiences, including a significant crash during qualifying. Nevertheless, Briatore noted, "If you examine Sunday’s times, you can see he achieved a time similar to (Pierre) Gasly.

      "This is the first instance our cars have been so close."

      However, this change continues a prolonged period of instability at Alpine, which includes the recent unexpected departure of team principal Oliver Oakes amid rumors of off-track controversies and personal conflicts with Briatore.

      Briatore refutes any claims of disagreements and states that Oakes' resignation also took him by surprise. Yet, he appears satisfied with the additional authority, as Dave Greenwood now serves solely as the designated 'team representative' in the eyes of the FIA.

      For Briatore to become the actual team principal or 'executive advisor,' he would require FIA approval and would need to be officially employed by Alpine, thereby paying UK taxes.

      Regarding his role, he stated: "In a Formula 1 team, you need a dictator, perhaps a democratic dictator. You need someone who is accountable.

      "I’m now at Enstone three days a week instead of two," Briatore mentioned, revealing that he has been working on optimizing the team structure. "Now, six directors report to me.

      "Before Oliver, there were 25. We had to make a change."

      Briatore is also recognized for operating with efficiency, as he recently scrapped plans to enhance Alpine’s aesthetic presentation in the paddock and pit lane.

      "We don’t need a better pit facility," he insisted, according to Auto Motor und Sport. "We need a faster car.

      "From now on, we will only allocate funds that contribute to performance."

      What is certain is that since Briatore's arrival, car performance has shown improvement. "It’s no longer a truck like it was last year," he concurred.

      "But we need to comprehend why we sometimes break into the top ten and at other times fall short. Because it’s not the engine.

      "We recognize our engine costs us between three and four tenths of a second - consistently around the same range. That does not account for our inconsistencies.

      "We need to concentrate on other factors and not rely on the engine as an excuse."