Two individuals close to Mick Schumacher have criticised Alpine's communication approach at Zandvoort.
After a showdown between Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan for the available 2025 race seat, Australian newcomer Doohan ultimately secured the position.
And how did Schumacher discover the outcome? "On Instagram," he revealed at Zandvoort.
"The decision for Doohan and not Mick is to be respected," Mick's uncle, Ralf Schumacher, told Bild newspaper. "But I find it disappointing that Mick has to find out about it on social media. That is not good style from Flavio (Briatore). And not only because it is generally not appropriate, but above all because of the past," Ralf added.
"Flavio celebrated great successes with Michael and was closely connected to the Schumacher family. A personal call should not be difficult," he said.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher's current boss, shares the sentiment.
"Every team has their way of communicating," he told Sky Deutschland. "Some are more open, some are less open. Some are more transparent, some less so. But let's say that perhaps we would have done it differently."
Briatore recently joined Alpine to serve as a senior advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo. At Zandvoort, the charismatic 74-year-old Italian gathered 20 leading journalists and expressed his newfound understanding of the team's crisis.
"There was no management," he was quoted as saying by AFP. "I think Alpine's problem was that they chose a few bad leaders. The list of bad ones is quite long."
"Now it's important to get the team spirit back and put the right people in the right place," Briatore is also quoted as saying by De Telegraaf newspaper.
"Our mission is to return to the top, but that will take time. We have to be realistic. We hope to be able to fight for podium places in 2027."
Briatore has appointed 36-year-old Oliver Oakes, best known as the head of the F2 team Hitech, as the new Alpine team principal, stating that "young, enthusiastic, energetic and ambitious" people are what the team currently needs.
He dismissed the possibility of signing Adrian Newey, joking that the famed technical expert is "too cheap," and reassured that there are no plans to sell Alpine.
"One thing is very clear," Briatore asserted. "Luca de Meo will never sell the team."
