Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes has recounted the “pretty horrible” moment he was rejected for an entry onto the F1 2026 grid with his Hitech GP team.

Oakes was team owner of Hitech when the team lodged a bid to enter the Formula 1 grid through an expressions of interest process, with only Andretti Cadillac’s bid accepted of those interested by the FIA and the rest rejected.

Oakes recounts ‘pretty horrible’ F1 rejection with Hitech GP

A sole Cadillac bid has been approved in principle to join the grid in 2026, while all other bids were rejected – including that spearheaded by Oakes before he was named team principal at Alpine last year.

He explained that it was a case of “never say never” to the project perhaps reigniting eventually, because nobody can be certain of what they will be doing in the years to come, but he remains “fully committed” to his position at Alpine.

When asked about how it had felt to be rejected by the FIA, Oakes explained on the Beyond the Grid podcast: “Pretty horrible, because I had 80 people who were working for me for two years – they did a phenomenal job.

“That was an ambition I had because I really wanted to have my own team and join Formula 1 because I felt we had the resource to do that.

“What was different with Hitech was it was my team for many years. How I’d grown that as a business, we didn’t have a big benefactor, so we were balancing the books and growing, and it was a great group.

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“And then I built on the side of that for two years, another 80 people getting ready for F1 and when I had to tell them the FIA hadn’t chosen us, it was a pretty tough day, partly because, as well, a lot of people had joined the project, left other teams to be part of that and believed in it.

“I don’t know if anybody’s had to do it, it was another box tick that I’d never want to do again, to face the workforce and say that, and also do right by them, trying to find all of them other jobs within F1, supporting them for six months to make sure no-one was hard done by.

“That was a big commitment, but also I’m proud of it because they really built up something great. It wasn’t meant to be.

“But it was a good experience as well, because probably taking this job [at Alpine], although, I spoke about being prepared for it, having been a driver, having had my junior categories in Hitech, but I probably haven’t publicly spoken about, let’s say, that F1 startup for sort of two years, which also was a really good education as well.”

Letting out a breath when asked if he would consider a future entry onto the grid with Hitech, he replied: “I guess, never say never, because at the end of the day, who knows what will happen in years to come.

“But I think at the moment, obviously, I’m leading Alpine, I’m fully committed to what we’re doing here – and this isn’t a short-term project.”

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