Flavio Briatore is again Formula 1 team boss. A dazzling character returns with him who knows no scruple when he strives for success.
“I am a democratic dictator”-with just one sentence, Flavio Briatore made it clear shortly after his return to Formula 1 as a consultant for the Alpine team last year that he did not intend to play the second violin. Just a few months later, the change of power at the French racing team is already perfect. Last Tuesday, the team announced that the previous VHEF Oliver Oakes has resigned from his post and that Briatore is now taking on his tasks.
Just a day later, Briatore also reached through. The Italian, who was only committed as a regular driver at the beginning of the season, but previously disappointing Jack Doohan was resolved directly by the Italian. He has to exchange seats with the previous replacement driver Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian can now prove himself for five races before the driver constellation is to be re -evaluated.
It is a decision that symbolizes Briatores leadership style. The now 75-year-old is always not very squeamish, ruthlessly assigns everything to success-and sometimes even goes beyond the limits of unscrupulousness.
Scandals already before his Formula 1 career
Scandals paved the way Briatores paved early. Before his time in the “premier class”, the son of a couple of teachers made a name for himself as an entrepreneur, worked on the Milan stock exchange. There he got into conflicts with the law early on and was sentenced to several prison terms for fraud. However, Briatore did not compete because he fled to the Caribbean until an amnesty.
During this time he worked for the fashion company Benetton, whose founder he had once built up a friendship, making it a rich man.
In 1989, Briatore initially became a manager and later team boss of Benetton’s Formula 1 team, even without any experience in the motorsport area. However, he will soon teach critics and doubters. After his convincing debut for Jordan in 1991, Briatore quickly adopted the young Michael Schumacher and used him as a regular driver at Benetton. A stroke of luck, because two years later the German became the world champion in Benetton for the first time.
However, this success was not without controversy, because Briatore and Benetton were exposed to several allegations of fraud. The team was accused of using secret electronic help in the cars that were later found. However, since their use could not be proven with sufficient certainty, the team got away in terms of punishment.
Another violation of the rule was hung with the tank system of the Benetton team. They had removed an anti-fire filter from their tank tubes, so that more fuel could flow faster, which accelerated the pit stops. However, the procedure led to a fire explosion at Schumacher’s teammate Jos Verstappen, in which Verstappen and some mechanics suffered easier burns. Briatore quickly pushed the fault to the manufacturer of the tank systems and claimed that several teams were guilty of the offense. He got away again without punishment.
In the following season, Schumacher was not only able to defend his driver title, Benetton also won the designers’ World Cup title-the only in the team history.
Briatore was one of the most prominent names of Formula 1 at the latest – and also developed into a dazzling personality. Because he also made headlines privately. In the coming years he received relationships with several models, including Heidi Klum, with whom he has daughter Leni.
In terms of sport, however, Briatore had to survive deep: After the departure of Schumacher and some important team members, the paths separated with Benetton in 1997 for the time being. After working for companies in the Formula 1 environment for a few years, he returned to Benetton in 2000, which was converted step by step into a Renault team in the next two years.