With the departure of Marcin Budkowski, Alpine is in need of a new team boss. Otmar Szafnauer is the man most often mentioned, but Fernando Alonso is suddenly going to be pictured with an old friend.
Alonso remarkably drove the last Grand Prix of 2021 with "El Plan" on the back of his car. Asked about this text, the two-time world champion acted a little vaguely but mostly stood with a smile on his face. The Spaniard returned to F1 to become world champion and hopes to achieve that in 2022.
Return of Briatore
With completely new regulations, there is also a good chance for Alpine to make a jump in the rankings, but the internal turmoil is not helping. Budkowski and Prost left the company and the latter did not do so without lashing out at the current leadership. The question is who will steer the ship now.
Alonso is at least keeping the minds busy because on his Instagram account he poses with no one less than Flavio Briatore. The flamboyant Italian won two world titles with Michael Schumacher and two with Alonso at Renault. The caption reads "with the boss. Whether Alonso is trying to drive his followers crazy or whether he is really talking about his new boss is not made clear.