La Stampa interviews Flavio Briatore
In a lengthy interview given on April 5, Flavio Briatore spoke broadly about his return to Formula 1 with the journalists of La Stampa.
Since last year, he has served as executive advisor to Alpine, which he is restructuring in order to achieve significant results: “We started from far behind; only in 2026 will we have the full Mercedes package—engine and gearbox.”
With the regulatory changes on the horizon, Flavio Briatore sees a chance to bring the team back to the top: “We need to have the kind of methods we used at Renault. In 2026 we must be competitive; in 2027 the target is the title.”
A look at Formula 1
As is well known, Flavio Briatore was in Formula 1 from 1988 to 1997 and then again from 2001 to 2009, and can therefore compare the Ecclestone era with Liberty Media’s management: “Stefano (Domenicali, editor’s note) has created a show we’ve never seen before. In my day, we raced in hotel parking lots in America and no one cared. Now the following is incredible.”
Regarding today’s drivers, the Piedmontese manager commented: “Who reminds me of Michael Schumacher? Max Verstappen. He does extraordinary things. And Lewis Hamilton. The others are champions, but maybe he’s the only real star like Senna was. Franco Colapinto? We’ll see, the priority now is to have a competitive car.”
A remark also about Christian Horner of Red Bull and the storm surrounding his sexual misconduct scandal: “Formula 1 is now also very media-driven; nowadays, if you go in an elevator with a woman, you have to be careful. When it comes to abuse, we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. I’m not saying things were better before, but there should be something fair, something just,” Flavio Briatore emphasized.
Leave a Reply