Alpine’s new boss Oliver Oakes hasn’t been in the job for too long, but he certainly has plenty of experience in the motorsport landscape.
Previously the boss of Formula 2 outfit Hitech, he knows exactly what it takes to nurture talent to the next level.
2025 will be his first full-time season in Formula 1, and he will inherit a new driver for the year in the shape of young Jack Doohan.
In what can only be described as the craze that comes with the sport, pressure is already mounting on him before he has reached the cockpit with rumours that Franco Colapinto could have been a better option for them.
Oliver Oakes says Alex Palou would be ‘very good’ in F1
One man involved in the Formula 1 silly season rumours just a short few years ago has gone on to enjoy plenty more success since then.
Alex Palou was once considered for a seat within the Red Bull stable, but nothing came from it, before going on to win three IndyCar titles in four years.
He’s been by far the most consistent, dominant force in the series, and although he must improve on oval tracks, he has been in a different class to his opposition on permanent circuits.
It’s these qualities that Oakes believes could be good tangibles for success in Formula 1, believing that the Spaniard could be just as good at the pinnacle of motorsport.
“I think he’d be quick, yeah. I think he’d be very good,” he told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
Could Palou move to Formula 1 in the future?
If keeps winning championships, his name is going to be on the minds of many key figures within motorsport – after all, he’s 27 years old which is fairly young for this field.
After heaping praise on Palou, could it mean that Oakes would pick him for 2026 alongside Pierre Gasly if Doohhan has a bad year? Maybe so.
He has so much experience racing in cars which aren’t dissimilar to Formula 1, and the Firestone rubber can be just as tricky to adjust to as the Pirelli’s.
Ask Romain Grosjean or Marcus Ericsson who have enjoyed mixed levels of success since moving over from Europe – it isn’t as easy as it looks.
As for going the other way, few have done that before, with Juan Pablo Montoya doing so and achieving fame, the same with Jacques Villeneuve, but less so with Sebastien Bourdais.
Nevertheless, that holds no bearing over whether Palou is suited to, or could be good in Formula 1, and if Oakes says he could be, then he probably would be.