Oliver Oakes’ sudden resignation as the team principal of the Alpine Formula One came after William Oakes, his brother and fellow director of single-seater team Hitech Grand Prix, was arrested last week.
The Telegraph was the first to report the news, and The Athletic confirmed the arrest with London’s Metropolitan Police, who said William was charged with “transferring criminal property” last Friday, May 2. The 31-year-old was stopped last Thursday “in the Silverstone Park area in Northamptonshire,” according to the police. Hitech is based at Silverstone Park — close to the site of the British Grand Prix venue.
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“He appeared before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, May 3, and remanded in custody,” the Metropolitan Police’s statement added.
Alpine declined to comment when approached by The Athletic. Hitech Grand Prix has yet to respond to The Athletic’s request for comment regarding Williams’ arrest and Oliver’s position with the company. According to the Companies House’s website, both William and Oliver are listed as active directors of Hitech Grand Prix Limited, but Oliver holds majority control of the company, having 75 percent or more ownership of shares and of voting rights. This move happened last summer, just before Oliver became the team principal of Alpine.
Oakes’ resignation as Alpine’s principal came as a shock and at a time when rumors were swirling about the future of Jack Doohan’s seat. The Australian driver has been replaced for the upcoming round at Imola by Franco Colapinto, who joined the team as a test and reserve driver in January.
News of Oakes’ resignation broke on Tuesday evening, and the announcement of the driver swap for at least the next five races then came the next morning. Alpine’s executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, is taking over Oakes’ duties.
A source with knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that Oakes’ sudden departure concerned the personal situation involving his family.
It had been initially assumed his departure centered on a disagreement with Briatore over the decision to change the team’s driver line-up. But Briatore, in a statement posted on Instagram on Wednesday, insisted “the reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature.”
Hitech Grand Prix, founded in 2015, is a single-seater team competing in numerous junior racing categories, including Formula Two, Formula Three and F1 Academy. Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, the father of former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin, previously owned a majority of the company until several days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Dmitry is known to have close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Nikita previously raced for Hitech during his F3 years.
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Oliver Oakes created Hitech Global Holdings Ltd and the shares originally owned by Mazepin senior’s company, Bergton Management Ltd, were transferred to Oakes’ holding company in March 2022.
A year later, Hitech Grand Prix went public about its bid to join the F1 grid in 2026, which ultimately was not successful. It had received new investment from Kazakhstan’s richest man, Vladimir Kim, who acquired a 25 percent share in Hitech Global Holdings Limited.
(Photo: Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
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