Scandals, triumphs, banishment: Formula 1 playboy turns 70

Briatore looks spellbound at the screens in front of him. He's the boss. The Renault team boss. He, the charismatic Italian, who accelerated Michael Schumacher's record-breaking career many years earlier. Briatore saw one of his two drivers crash into the barrier at the Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008, the first edition of the electrifying night race. What a hassle. Or? No. A little later, Briatore celebrates. Its second driver won the Singapore Grand Prix. Coincidence? No.

Rather, it is one of the biggest scandals in Formula 1 - probably still the most unbelievable, with Briatore right in the middle of it. The success maker. The playboy, during his liaison with Heidi Klum, whose daughter Leni was born. One of those who cultivated the image of a chauvinistic racing series with sex appeal, thanks in part to his relationships. One from a time long gone.

Flavio Briatore did not always resort to legal means. © APA/afp / ANDREAS SOLARO

The son of a primary school teacher couple from Verzuolo in the Piedmont region became wealthy in the mid-80s when he opened franchise stores in the USA for a fashion manufacturer. A year after his first visit to the racetrack at the Formula 1 race in Australia in 1988, Briatore became team boss of Benetton. Without any real knowledge of Formula 1, without any idea of the technology. A T-shirt manufacturer, as he himself joked. “Briatore brought a unique and innovative management style to Formula 1,” it says on his homepage. That is certainly true, but what is meant here is that he did not see Formula 1 as a sport, but rather as a spectacle and business. Big Schumacher supporter Briatore brought Michael Schumacher into his team in the early 90s, and in 1994 and 1995 the German won the first two of his seven world championship titles at Benetton. Briatore later became team boss at Renault and ended Schumacher's series triumphs with Fernando Alonso in 2005. In 2006, Alonso won the Drivers' World Championship again under Briatore.

Two years later came the low point, two years later came Singapore, two years later came a fake accident with a team boss named Briatore. On the 14th lap, Nelson Piquet Junior crashed his Renault into the barrier because he was supposed to. He remained uninjured. Teammate Alonso was called to the pits unusually early to change tires and then benefited from the safety car phase due to the accident. He won the race. Briatore also cheered, but was later banned forever by the World Automobile Association. Briatore maintains his innocence “I think we had to show the world and our sports friends that someone who does something so bad no longer has a place in Formula 1 or international racing,” explained then-FIA boss Max Mosley. Briatore was XNUMX percent responsible. “He should have prevented this act if it was suggested to him. He should never have implemented this idea.”

Briatore, who was also exposed to accusations of cheating and breaking rules during his time with Schumacher, always protested his innocence in the infamous “Crashgate” in Singapore. Briatore recently described the then World Motorsport Council as a “Mickey Mouse event”. A French court later lifted the lifelong ban and awarded Briatore 15 euros. “I wanted a million and got 000,” he said.

Formula 1 is a thing of the past for Briatore. The trained land surveyor, later insurance salesman, businessman and team boss, who also made the “Billionaire” club in Costa Smeralda a hotspot for the rich and beautiful from all over the world in 1998, is no longer looking back. He is happy. “I have achieved enough in Formula 1 and earned a lot of money,” he said.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Hockey

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Scandals, triumphs, banishment: Formula 1 playboy turns 70

Yachts, beautiful women, tanned, sunglasses, rich in money, rich in scandals. This Sunday the dazzling Flavio Briatore turns 70 years old.

Suggestions

Comments (0)