Research notes
Flavio Briatore hails from Piedmont in Italy. He worked early on as a ski instructor, restaurant manager, and stock exchange clerk, and from 1979 to 1988 built out more than 800 retail franchise stores for the Benetton Group in the United States. In late 1988 he moved into the Benetton F1 team as Commercial Director, took full control from 1991 onward, and won titles with Schumacher in 1994 and 1995. From 2000 to 2009 he ran the Renault F1 team, leading Alonso to back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, for seven world championship titles in total. In June 2024 he returned to Enstone for a third time, becoming Executive Advisor of the Alpine team.
No, management/business and team operations background
The F1.com 2026 overview states that Briatore took on team principal duties after Oakes's departure;
Steve Nielsen serves as Managing Director responsible for day-to-day operations.