After a 15-year hiatus from the sport, Flavio Briatore is currently in his second term as the team principal of the Enstone-based constructor now known as Alpine, and recently fielded a question regarding the prospect of leading the iconic Ferrari team in the future.
Briatore’s first venture in F1 came in 1991, when he assumed control of Benetton after the owners reassigned him from their global operations to lead their Formula 1 team.
The Italian executive was instrumental in bringing Michael Schumacher to the team after his debut with Team Jordan in 1991. The German driver went on to win two titles with the team before departing for Ferrari after his second feat.
Briatore wasn’t surprised when Schumacher left him for the Prancing Horse, knowing the pull that the iconic racing outfit has for drivers in the motorsport world. Now, Briatore has had his say on whether the team could do the same to him.
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Flavio Briatore says he ‘already’ has his ‘own problems’ in response to joining Ferrari
Briatore was a guest on the Italian radio show La Politica nel Pallone, where he touched upon several topics within football, as well as being fielded questions regarding his primary expertise of Formula 1.
The Alpine team principal was candidly asked by the host, via Automoto.it, “When are you going to give Ferrari a hand?”
To which Briatore replied, “I already have my own problems. I’ve only been close to Ferrari in the garage. No one ever asked me to go to Ferrari, but I know that when I was at Benetton, Ferrari had to take 12 or 13 people away from me to win, starting with Michael Schumacher.
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“Luca di Montezemolo was and is a great manager with extraordinary leadership, but even he had to wait five years to win; it was never easy. Sooner or later, [Fred Vasseur] will solve the problems.
“He’s a very good person, but F1 is very complicated today, with seven cars within two tenths of a second. This year, the only truly competitive team is McLaren.
“Next year, everything will change, and we’ll be fighting for the podium too. You’ll see, with the new cars, Hamilton will be back in the fight for victory; he’s always great.”
Briatore highlighted the issues of Hamilton at Ferrari recently, stating that the seven-time world champion has been surprised by the extent of the problems that he has faced since joining the Prancing Horse at the start of the year.
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Alpine is yet to decide who will be racing alongside Pierre Gasly in 2026
One of the problems that Briatore alluded to in his conversation on La Politica nel Pallone is the case of the second seat at Alpine for the 2026 F1 season.
Franco Colapinto has struggled in his first full season with the team after taking over from Jack Doohan at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May. He is the only driver on the grid who has yet to score a world championship point.
Briatore has held talks with several candidates to replace Colapinto, but the young Argentine is yet to find out what his future in F1 looks like as his scoreless run continues.
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After Pierre Gasly earned himself a new contract with the Enstone-based outfit recently, F1 fans have called for the team to appoint Yuki Tsunoda to the second Alpine car.
The Japanese driver’s future at Red Bull is also looking uncertain, and he shares a good relationship with Gasly from their time as teammates at AlphaTauri (now known as Racing Bulls).
With the new season steadily approaching, Alpine need to make a decision soon or they risk going into F1’s new era of regulations unprepared.