Alpine proves itself once again as a graveyard for team principals.Oakes has been with the French squad since last August, and initially, it seemed like a perfect marriage. The friendly Brit is an open, approachable personality, someone who was beloved within the organization. But reportedly, there was one problem in carrying out his duties, namely Flavio Briatore.

The Italian (75) was appointed as the Executive Advisor to the Formula 1 team by Renault CEO Luca de Meo in May last year. Briatore was given an extensive mandate; he could decide who to recruit and who to dismiss. It was also Briatore who decided that Alpine would stop its own power unit for Formula 1 and become a customer team of Mercedes.

In short, these were all tasks and decisions that would normally be made by the team principal. Oliver Oakes, who reportedly did not always see eye to eye with Briatore. For example, it was the Italian who wanted to sideline Jack Doohan in favor of Franco Colapinto before the season started. However, this did not happen, partly because Oakes had confidence in the rookie.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was seen carrying a water bottle around on Friday morning in Miami with a sticker that read "tyre water." A clear humorous response to the supposed investigation carried out by Red Bull using thermal cameras that allegedly found that McLaren's cooling effectivity could not be achieved with the airflow alone, suggesting foul play.

After Brown challenged 'one team' to file a formal protest with the FIA, Red Bull team principal reminded his American counterpart that such practices were "part and parcel of Formula One."

Mercedes CEO, Wolff, has now joined the debate: "I think the team around Zak (Brown McLaren CEO, ed.), Andrea (Stella, McLaren team boss, ed.), Rob Marshall, these are good people with integrity.""We've in the past often said, well, let's look at whether there is something in the borderline [of the regulations], but I have no doubt that these guys stay within the rules.""It's just really good development at heart, they have understood how to manage the tyre much better than everybody else and in my opinion it's totally legit."