Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore (b. April 12, 1950) is managing director of the Renault Formula One team.

Formula One career

Briatore attended his first Formula One race, the Australian Grand Prix, in 1988, despite having proclaimed his lack of interest in the sport. Benetton made him commercial director of his new F1 constructor, Benetton Formula, and when he fired the team management shortly thereafter, Briatore became managing director and set about turning Benetton into a competitive constructor. He hired and quickly fired engineer John Barnard; Barnard's successor was Tom Walkinshaw, whose greatest achievement was to lure young driver Michael Schumacher from the Jordan team after his first F1 race in 1991. Schumacher went on to win a race in both 1992 and 1993 before claiming the World Championship in a Benetton in 1994.

Related Topics:
Formula One - Australian Grand Prix - 1988 - Benetton Formula - John Barnard - Tom Walkinshaw - Michael Schumacher - Jordan - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994

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Late in 1994 Briatore purchased the ailing Ligier constructor to acquire its stock of Renault engines; FIA regulations, however, did not permit him to own the team, so he sold it to Walkinshaw. He took on complete management of Benetton, but when Schumacher and a number of engineers departed for Ferrari in 1996, the team slipped to the middle of the grid.

Related Topics:
1994 - Ligier - Renault - FIA - Ferrari - 1996

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Briatore purchased a share of the Minardi team in 1996, but, unable to sell it to British American Tobacco, he sold out to fellow owners Giancarlo Minardi and Gabriele Rumi. Benetton fired him in 1997 in favor of David Richards.

Related Topics:
Minardi - 1996 - British American Tobacco - Giancarlo Minardi - Gabriele Rumi - 1997 - David Richards

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From 1998 to 2000 he sold Renault engines, calling them Supertec.

Related Topics:
1998 - 2000 - Renault - Supertec

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Renault F1

In 2000 Renault returned to Formula One with the purchase of the Benetton Formula team. Briatore returned as managing director and team principal, replacing Rocco Benetton. The team raced as Benetton-Renault in 2001 before becoming Renault F1 in 2002.

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Briatore's reputation as a talent spotter has again been highlighted by the career of Fernando Alonso. Briatore contracted the then 19 year old Spaniard in 1999. As his manager Briatore secured a race drive for him with Minardi in 2001, promoting him to test driver of Renault in 2002 before replacing Jenson Button with him as race driver in 2003. When he replaced Button the outcry was huge but Briatore stated "Time will tell if I am wrong."

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The Times observed that in 2005 "Button is tangled up in a contracts wrangle for the second time in a year and has not won a race, while Alonso "

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Briatore also acts as agent for Mark Webber.

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