Formula 1: Flavio Briatore makes his comeback as a puppet master
From expelled to big boss: The scandal-ridden power broker Flavio Briatore is back in control of Formula 1. The 75-year-old Italian is tasked with cleaning up the ambitious yet chronically unsuccessful Alpine racing team. Following the departure of team boss Oliver Oakes on Tuesday evening, Briatore, the former chief advisor, has taken over the team's leadership. On Wednesday morning, he replaced the disappointing rookie Jack Doohan with reserve driver Franco Colapinto.
"Given that the field is so balanced this year and the team has a competitive car that it has significantly improved over the last twelve months, we see the need to change our driver lineup," Briatore explained. Colapinto will now be allowed to compete as the second driver alongside the experienced Pierre Gasly for five races, after which the racing team will conduct a "reassessment."
The driver swap is no surprise; it has been the subject of intense speculation, if not expected, ever since Colapinto's signing. The 21-year-old Argentinian already drove nine (sometimes convincing) races for Williams last season, and he reportedly brings with him sponsorship money in the tens of millions.
Briatore's return to the helm of a Formula 1 racing team is far more remarkable, as it was categorically out of the question just a few years ago. After all, Briatore, a bon vivant who was Michael Schumacher's Benetton team boss during the 1994 and 1995 World Championship triumphs and who has a daughter from a brief relationship with Heidi Klum, is responsible for "Crahgate," perhaps Formula 1's biggest scandal.
With Flavio Briatore as team boss, Michael Schumacher won the Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship in 1994 and 1995.
Source: picture alliance / dpa
At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the then Renault team boss Briatore and technical director Pat Symonds ordered their driver Nelson Piquet Jr. to fabricate a crash - the perfidious plan worked perfectly: Team mate Fernando Alonso became the big beneficiary during the subsequent safety car phase, and the Spaniard took the win from the depths of the midfield.
After crossing the finish line, the scheming began: Did Alonso simply have outrageous luck? Or was the race manipulated in an unprecedented way? Piquet spilled the beans after being fired in 2009. Following FIA investigations and court proceedings, Symonds and Briatore were banned, the Italian even for life.
But Briatore, who had a crazy career from casual worker to nightclub owner to Benetton and later Renault team boss, refused to be driven out of Formula 1. He sued until a court declared his indefinite ban unlawful.
In 2024, Renault CEO Luca de Meo brought the persona non grata back to the Formula 1 circus. Perhaps, as Briatore's promotion on Tuesday suggests, he remembered the words of legendary team boss Frank Williams: "Flavio is not a racer, but he always makes the right decisions."
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