F1 team has cut 300 jobs after massive decision made over its future

Flavio Briatore has confirmed 300 jobs have been cut at in the months since he returned.

Mirror Sport reported in May that . And, a few weeks later, was confirmed as an adviser to the parent company's chief executive Luca de Meo.

The months since have been turbulent. , marking Renault's exit from as a power unit constructor. It is understood the team plans to use engines from 2026.

Former team principal Bruno Famin left that role to oversee the winding down of that project at their French base in Viry-Chatillon, near Paris. And former Hitech Grand Prix chief Oliver Oakes was signed as his replacement to lead what is set to become another customer team.

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But there have not only been changes across the Channel. At Alpine's UK base in Enstone, Briatore has now confirmed that staff levels have been reduced by around a quarter.

He told the Italian version of Sky Sports: "This year we have done some spring cleaning. In fact, we took a step forward on the 2024 car to concentrate on the 2025 single-seater. Unlike what others do, being forced to take a step back and then move forward, we are moving straight forward.

"Cleaning up in the sense that we need to get back to people working for a race team and not a company. We are putting things back the way they should be. Alpine UK is completely independent of everything else.

"We have gone back to the Renault days - the engineers are F1 engineers, everything is focused on the team. Those who were going to leave have left. When we arrived, there were around 1,150 people, now there are 850."

Briatore, now 74, was in charge of the team at a time of great success. Renault won two championships with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel in 2005 and 2006, but the Italian later stepped down after he was implicated in the team's infamous 'Crashgate' scandal, which led to him being banned from F1 by the FIA - a decision which was overturned on appeal.

It has been a difficult season for Alpine, but one in which their improvement has been noticeable. By far the most positive moment came in the most recent race in Brazil when a strategy gamble paid off in the form of a double podium for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. "In Brazil we were very competitive, so we took the risks because we could take them," said Briatore.