Briatore thwarts comeback rumours
Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore has denied rumours that he will return to Formula One in the 2011 season to assist with promoting the sport. The Italian businessman, who left Renault in 2008 over the
infamous race-fixing scandal involving Nelson Piquet Jr. and Fernando Alonso, told formula1.com that he was through with the stresses of the sport and was content to enjoy a calmer life away from the pressure-cooker of the track.
“At the moment I wouldn't have fun in Formula One,” admitted Briatore. “At the moment I am happy with what I am doing – being a dad, husband, and taking care of my investments .”
The 60-year-old left the F1 business when light was shed on the 2008 race-fixing controversy, in which Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed out so that team-mate Fernando Alonso could win the race. Renault came under
severe scrutiny for their actions after Piquet Jr. later revealed the truth of the incident, causing the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to launch an investigation which found Renault guilty of conspiracy and race fixing. Briatore, who ordered
the Brazilian to crash, was forced to resign from the team and was issued a lifelong ban from F1 by the FIA. Yet though that ban has recently been overturned, the man insists that he has had more than his share.
“I have won seven titles with different teams. I want to have fun with what I'm doing – that is my motivation and not the need for a job,” he asserted.
Briatore has been associated with a return to the sport in order to help increase popularity, which some critics have accused of having become “too distant,” from the fans. Renault F1 chairman Gerard Lopez
has criticized the industry for not embracing modern mediums such as the internet, and for alienating the drivers from their fans.
“Formula One does need to promote itself better as it is a global sport," Lopez told Autosport. “The future of the sport is an evolution in terms of adding additional media channels and increasing revenue
to the sport.”
In regards to the drivers’ interaction with fans, Lopez stated, “Come on! You've got a couple of hours of racing and a couple of hours of debrief. They [the drivers] could spend some more time with the
fans."
Briatore agrees that F1 needs to adopt more diverse mediums of broadcasting and that the entertainment aspect of the sport should be capitalized on, acknowledging that watching F1 from the television has
given him a better idea of what the fans hunger for.
"Very often people in the paddock seem to forget that it's only the fight of the drivers for positions that draws the crowds – and not the work of the engineers. That doesn't knock anybody's socks off.
Fans are not interested in the fact that it takes 600 people and $200 million to get a reasonable car on the grid. They want to see their heroes fighting each other.”
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