Gucci’s Alpine Tie-Up Echoes Benetton’s Formula 1 Rise With Briatore At The Helm Again

Flavio Briatore is once again at the centre of a story linking Italian fashion to Formula 1, this time through a partnership between Alpine and Gucci.
Gucci has become title sponsor of the Alpine F1 team, a deal that draws striking comparisons to Benetton’s entry into the sport four decades ago.
The Enstone facility that currently houses Alpine is the very same base where Benetton built its championship-winning operation in the 1990s.
Benetton’s Formula 1 story began not with team ownership but through sponsorship deals with Tyrrell and Alfa Romeo before the company purchased Toleman outright.
The Benetton family, founded by siblings Luciano, Carlo, Gilberto and Giuliana, had conquered European fashion in the late 1970s with colourful, distinctive clothing before setting sights on America.
Luciano Benetton turned to a 28-year-old entrepreneur named Flavio Briatore at the end of 1979 to lead the company’s United States expansion.
Briatore opened Benetton’s first Madison Avenue store in New York in 1980, and within five years the brand had 400 stores across the country, eventually reaching nearly 800 at its peak.
Benetton’s entry into Formula 1 actually came not through Briatore but through Nanni Galli, a former racing driver whose family supplied garments to the clothing company.
Luciano Benetton attended the 1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix and agreed to sponsor Tyrrell, on the condition the team dropped existing sponsor Denim Musk due to perceived brand confusion.
Michele Alboreto won the Detroit Grand Prix in 1983 driving the Tyrrell 011B under Benetton colours, but the partnership lasted only one season before the company moved to Alfa Romeo.
Benetton’s sponsorship of Alfa Romeo in 1984, partly attracted by the presence of American driver Eddie Cheever, proved largely disappointing with Riccardo Patrese’s third place at Monza the season’s highlight.
In May 1985, Benetton purchased the entire Toleman operation for £2 million, marking the beginning of its journey as an F1 constructor rather than simply a sponsor.
Briatore himself did not attend his first Formula 1 race until the 1988 Australian Grand Prix, where Benetton asked him to oversee the commercial side of the team.
He helped assemble a world-class technical team, signed Michael Schumacher, and delivered Schumacher’s first world championship in 1994 followed by both titles in 1995.
Briatore’s commercial instincts set him apart, whether persuading Schumacher to leave Eddie Jordan, acquiring Ligier to secure Renault engines, or closing major sponsorship agreements.
Renault brought Briatore back in 2024 as an executive adviser at a time when the company already knew its factory engine programme would be discontinued.
Otro Capital now controls the Alpine team, with Renault having effectively closed its funding tap, and the expectation is that part or all of the team will eventually be sold to an external investor.
Mercedes has been mentioned in paddock rumours as a potential buyer, while Christian Horner is also said to be exploring options alongside a group of investors.
When the Alpine and Gucci partnership was announced, Briatore said: “Team Enstone has always been known for doing things differently and has already shown that fashion can finish first in Formula 1.”
The question now is whether history will repeat itself and another Italian fashion brand will help restore Enstone to the summit of Formula 1.
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