Davide Brivio may be in Bahrain this weekend, but he admits his role his changed significantly at Alpine.
Last year, having switched from the world of MotoGP to help lead the Renault-owned Alpine team in Formula 1, rumours began to swirl that the Italian could be returning to two wheels.
"I know there was a rumour about it," he told Ouest France newspaper.
"People at Suzuki were saying to me ’Hey, why don’t you come back?’ but I’m very happy here. And even though I have a different role this year, I’m happy to be able to continue."
Brivio’s new role is as boss of Alpine’s other competitive projects, including the young driver program and also potential forays in other categories.
"My job now is to look for opportunities to compete in other championships," he confirmed. "It could be the Dakar, rally, or I don’t know - something else.
"But we are looking to increase our efforts, our commitment to motorsport. At the moment I am in the exploration phase - last week I was at a rally in Abu Dhabi because it looks a bit like the Dakar.
"I will probably go to WRC events soon too. As I say, it’s a study process at the moment."
Brivio clarified, however, that he does not have a specific operational role on the Alpine race team this weekend.
"The reason I am here is related to another task entrusted to me at Alpine, that is to say that I am in charge of the academy of young Alpine drivers," he said.
"So I’m here to follow the first Formula 3 and Formula 2 races of our four drivers entered in these two categories," Brivio added, revealing that he will not attend all grands prix in 2022.
When asked if his role changed because he underperformed in 2021, the Italian answered: "Let’s say that if things have changed, it may mean that I did not achieve the objectives.
"We started last year with one style of management and for this year the major difference is that there is a single team boss. Last year, let’s say that position was shared between me and Marcin Budkowski.
"And let’s be honest - it didn’t work out as expected."