Flavio Briatore
Italian businessman and de facto team principal of Alpine F1, known for leading Team Enstone to multiple championships and for his controversial past.
Flavio Briatore (born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and de facto team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of the colloquially known "Team Enstone" (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team), Briatore led the team to three World Constructors' Championship and four World Drivers' Championship victories. However, he was dogged by allegations of cheating, including the 1994 "Launch Control" controversy and the 2007 "Spygate" affair, although in both cases his teams escaped penalties. He was forced out of Renault and received a lifetime ban from F1 after the 2008 "Crashgate" scandal, although a French court subsequently overturned the ban. Fifteen years later, he returned to the Enstone team, which currently operates as Alpine F1.
Quick Facts
- Key driver association
- Fernando Alonso
- Constructors' titles won
- 2005, 2006
Lore & Background
Briatore started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. He was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison sentences, though the convictions were later extinguished by an amnesty. He spent several years as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands and the United States, where he set up several United Colors of Benetton franchises, paving the way for his role at Benetton's F1 team. From 2007 to 2011, he was part-owner and chairman of English association football team Queens Park Rangers.
Reader's Guide
Briatore was born in Verzuolo near Cuneo in the Maritime Alps. His parents were school teachers. After twice failing public school, he attended Fassino di Busca, a private school, receiving a diploma with the lowest grades in Land Surveying. He found early work as a ski instructor and restaurant manager. He opened a restaurant named Tribüla, which was his own nickname. The restaurant was unsuccessful and closed due to excessive debt. In the 1970s, he moved to Cuneo and became an assistant to businessman Attilio Dutto, owner of the Paramatti Vernici paint company. Dutto was killed on 21 March 1979 in a car bomb attack. Briatore then moved to Milan and worked for Finanziaria Generale Italia at the Italian stock exchange. While working in Milan, he met Luciano Benetton. When Benetton expanded to the United States in 1979, he appointed Briatore to lead the group's American operations. In the 1980s, Briatore was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and received two prison sentences. To avoid imprisonment, he fled the country and lived as a fugitive in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. He did not return to the EU until his convictions were extinguished by amnesty. In 2010, a Turin court ordered Briatore rehabilitated. During his exile, he continued working for Benetton. By 1989, there were 800 Benetton stores in the United States. Briatore became very wealthy, as he received a cut of every franchising agreement. In 1989, the Benetton family reassigned him to manage the team's commercial operations. He assumed full control of the team in 1991, and eventually acquired a 30% personal stake in the team. Under Briatore's leadership, the team won three world championships. He built a "super team" of talented engineers at Benetton. He hired John Barnard, but existing designers Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds disliked working with Barnard. In 1990, Byrne, Symonds, and 11 other engineers quit en masse to join the abortive Adrian Reynard F1 project. Briatore convinced them to return at the end of the season; Barnard was fired. He also hired Tom Walkinshaw and Ross Brawn. In 1992, the team moved to a new facility at Enstone, Oxfordshire. Briatore lured rookie driver Michael Schumacher from the Jordan team after his first F1 race. The circumstances of Schumacher's move were controversial. Briatore won a legal battle with Jordan, allowing him to sign the German.
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