Flavio Briatore opens up on Alpine F1 talks with Carlos Sainz and why deal fell through

Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore, who returned to the Renault-owned team earlier this year, also explained why he believes legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey would not be the right fit for the outfit

Alpine demanded a four-year contract for Carlos Sainz during discussions over his Formula 1 future, Flavio Briatore has said.

Sainz was the highest-profile free agent on the F1 driver market this year and was described by other drivers as the ‘cork in the bottle’ as he weighed up his options. Having been told by Ferrari that his seat would be going to Lewis Hamilton for 2025, the Spaniard took his time to decide his next move.

Eventually, he agreed to join Williams having been courted for many months by team principal James Vowles. The top teams on the grid either didn’t have space for Sainz or were more interested in other targets, but there was still plenty of competition for his signature.

Audi made Sainz their top driver target back in 2023 but eventually missed out. As did Alpine, who entered the race for his signature much later on but made a compelling case which almost turned his head but only delayed his decision to put pen to paper on his new Williams contract.

An apparent sticking point between Sainz and Alpine during talks, according to Briatore, was the length of the deal. “I spoke to Sainz. He was interesting for us, but only for four years,” the Italian explained.

“It makes no sense to take a driver like Carlos for one or two years. Either he believes in our programme or he doesn’t. I don’t need a driver who costs me a lot of money and is looking to go to another team when the opportunity arises.”

As in-demand as Sainz was, the race for his signature was nothing compared to what happened when Adrian Newey became available. After he announced his plan to leave Red Bull, the legendary F1 designer was chased by outfits up and down the grid who all knew his expertise could propel them further up the grid.

Eventually, he rejected approaches from the likes of Ferrari, Williams, Audi and, indeed, Alpine, to join Aston Martin from next March. Like with Sainz, Alpine’s approach came relatively late in the day and at a point when they were never likely to dissuade him from penning a deal with the Silverstone-based squad.

Briatore said that the talks between his outfit and Newey’s entourage were never too serious. And he also admitted that there are other areas of focus for Alpine right now before they could ever make full use of having Newey’s expertise in their corner.

He added: “Adrian is an artist. We’re not ready for someone like him yet. To benefit from him, you have to have the right team around him. Maybe we’ll be ready in two or three years. That’s why I’ve never spoken to him seriously.”