Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatoreis an Italian businessman. He started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. Briatore was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, though the convictions were successively extinguished by an amnesty. Briatore set up a number of successful Benetton franchises as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands and the United States. In 1990, he was promoted by Luciano Benetton to manager of the Benetton Formula One racing team, which became Renault F1...
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth12 April 1950
CityVerzuolo, Italy
Let's put it this way: I am not even sure at the moment we will be in Formula One in 2008.
The deal has been on the table for the last three or four weeks. It depends when the manufacturers want to sign.
There will be more action and the drivers will have to be on the track a lot more.
The relationship between us and Giancarlo is fantastic,
I have read in the French press that Renault is going to leave Formula One. These journalists need new jobs - they had false information which they disseminated everywhere. Renault want to stay in Formula One under certain conditions which is the same as Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota. Five us want certain conditions.
The GP2 championship costs 0.65 percent of what the Formula One championship costs. I don't understand why GP2 cost $2.5 million and our team and other teams cost maybe between $300 and $500 million. I do not see what the difference is.
I pay enough. The driver moves around but the team stays. What you need is a solid, efficient team. This attracts a good driver.
I don't think Michael Schumacher forgets how to drive a formula one car. It is just Ferrari having a bad year. Michael does the best possible job with a limited car. But I think Fernando can be as great even if Michael already has seven championships - a crazy number. Fernando has the potential to do that because he is made to be a champion. He is also much calmer than Schumacher. Forget what you see in public - where Alonso is smiling and Schumacher is concentrated. I know them both very well and I promise you Fernando has the ice in his blood - more than Michael, who is boiling inside with feeling.
The GP2 championship costs 0.65 percent of what the Formula One championship costs, ... I don't understand why GP2 cost $2.5 million and our team and other teams cost maybe between $300 and $500 million. I do not see what the difference is.
I was looking at the No. 1. That's the only thing I was looking at.
He has demonstrated that he is a talented, aggressive driver in the GP2 series, and he has impressed our engineers during his tests with the team. The test driver's role will be crucial during 2006 as we develop our V8 engine through the season to defend the World Championship.
He is incredibly cool. Not emotional, no mistakes, always thinking. I always believed the brain is important in any business, including driving the car.
We have spectators walk away from television. In the meantime, we have less spectators in the grandstands.
I was obviously a bit annoyed at this.