Briatore: Newey's too cheap for me, everything is possible...

However, and on a more serious note, the Alpine Executive Advisor admitted anything is possible, and did not rule out trying to have Newey on board if it was good for the project.

Newey's future has been the source of much speculation after he decided to part ways with Red Bull Racing earlier this year, and while initially, the chances were high that the British engineer may join Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, those chances have now diminished while reports claimed Lawrence Stroll is willing to sign a big fat cheque hoping to secure the legendary F1 designer's signature for his Aston Martin project.

Briatore is leading his own project at Alpine that saw many changes already; Esteban Ocon out, Bruno Famin out, Oli Oakes and Jack Doohan in, while a decision on whether Renault power will be dropped on not, is expected soon.

But having tech guru like Newey would be of great value, but when asked about the chances of that happening, Briatore, in an interview with F1's Official Website joked: "Who is that?! He’s too cheap for me.

"As well, you are in the market, you are in the business, you are talking people," then added. "Alpine was a little bit in the corner, nobody was talking about Alpine anymore, you know what I mean?

"Now we are there, we have the finance, we have the support from the chairman, we have a big group behind us and should something happen that’s a good possibility we do it, as simple as that. But only if it’s good for the team.

"And then it’s not an ego trip, I take this engineer, I take this engineer, because one man is not changing the team; we have plenty of examples like that when people buy everything.

"You don’t buy the culture; the culture to win you don’t buy, you buy whatever you want. We have plenty of people who buy, buy, buy but the result is not really in proportion with what you buy," he insisted.

But when quizzed about the chances of having Newey on board, the Italian responded: "Everything’s possible in life."

Briatore was also asked about the decision to drop Renault power, Alpine becoming Mercedes customers, he insisted he had "no idea" on the latest updates revealing that "this is the decision of the chairman of the Renault Group" Luca De Meo.

"The problem is the evidence," the former Benetton and Renault boss continued. "The stuff with the engine was decided already by the management of Renault and for me, it’s fine. Our chairman decided it was fine.

"This was decided already before I arrived in the team," the 74-year-old maintained, but went on to defend such a decision even further.

He pointed out: "Look at McLaren, at other teams. McLaren are not doing everything. If you want to win, you need the best of everything that is possible.

"My job is really to make the team in condition to win. Everything is possible to make sure all the important parts are competitive," Briatore concluded.