Oakes resigned from Alpine days after brother's arrest

Oliver Oakes resigned from his position as team principal of Alpine just days after his brother and fellow Hitech Grand Prix director William was arrested in England.

William Oakes is listed as a director of racing team Hitech Grand Prix on the UK’s Companies House filings, a position he holds alongside his older brother Oliver who resigned from Alpine on Tuesday. The Telegraph first reported that the younger Oakes was arrested in the Silverstone Park area – where the Hitech team is based – on Friday, May 2, four days before Oliver left his role with immediate effect.

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“William Oakes, 31, of Rugby was charged with transferring criminal property on Friday, May 2 after he was stopped in the Silverstone Park area in Northamptonshire on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in possession of a large amount of cash,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told The Telegraph. “He appeared before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, May 3, and remanded in custody.”

Oliver Oakes’ resignation from Alpine was described by the 36-year-old as “a personal decision” in a joint statement alongside Flavio Briatore, who was moving to dismiss assumptions that it was related to a disagreement over changes to the team’s driver line-up. Franco Colapinto was confirmed in place of Jack Doohan for the next five races less than 24 hours after Oakes’ resignation was announced.

“A lot has been said in the past 24 hours incorrectly associating the decision of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement, or that we shared different views," Briatore said. "This is completely false and far from the truth.

“Me and Oli have a very good relationship and had long-term ambitions to drive this team forward together. We respect Oli's request to resign and have therefore accepted his resignation. The reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature.”

Oakes’ Hitech team had previously been majority owned by Dmitry Mazepin, with 75% of the shares held via Bergton Management Limited, but those shares were relinquished to Oliver Oakes in February 2022. Oakes become the sole shareholder at that time, less than two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that resulted in a number of oligarchs – including Mazepin – being sanctioned.

A new company – Hitech Grand Prix Holdings – was created to take control of the shares a month later, but Oakes regained the full shareholding from the company in July 2024, shortly before being confirmed as Alpine team principal.