Who is Flavio Briatore? All about Alpine's controversial rumored signing

Recent reports have claimed that Flavio Briatore could make a return to Renault's (currently Alpine) F1 team as a special advisor. While many new F1 fans might not know who Briatore is, he used to be one of the most recognizable faces of the sport in the late twentieth century, and not particularly for 'good deeds'.

Flavio Briatore started his career as a restaurant manager and later as an insurance agent in Italy. Even before he entered F1, his actions were quite controversial as he was charged with several frauds in the '80s and even received two prison sentences.

When he lived in the Virgin Islands as a fugitive to avoid imprisonment, he started working with Benetton and opened several franchises in the US. In 1986, the Benetton family further branched out their business by entering F1 as a constructor team.

After seeing Briatore's expertise in expanding the business, Luciano Benetton employed Briatore as a commercial director of the F1 team in 1990 and quickly promoted him to the post of managing director.

One of the first major steps that Flavio Briatore took in the role was to attract a young Michael Schumacher to join the team. In the 1994 F1 season, Briatore's Benetton and Schumacher were accused of cheating by using illegal traction control. Despite this, Schumacher won the 1994 and 1995 world titles with Benetton, while the team won the 1995 constructors title.

Fast forward to 2000, Renault purchased the Benetton team, and fully acquired it by 2002. By this time, Briatore had already left Benetton but was then reappointed as managing director by Renault. This team later became Alpine as we know it today.

After Briatore found Michael Schumacher, the Italian was praised and became known in the sport as an excellent scout. In his tenure at Renault, he brought in a young Fernando Alonso, who also became an excellent find since he won two of his world titles with the team in 2005 and 2006.

By 2006, Flavio Briatore's relations with Renault had become notably strong. However, things started to take a drastic turn in his F1 career after 2006.

In 2007, his star driver, Fernando Alonso, left Renault to join McLaren, which was quite a shocking move considering he was the defending world champion. However, in 2008, he returned to Renault due to an intense rivalry with Lewis Hamilton in the British team. Following this, Briatore's most glaring moment took place at the 2008 F1 Singapore GP.

The controversy was centered around Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr.'s crash in the race. While the driver explained that the crash was because of his mistake, he later revealed in 2009 that it was deliberate so that his teammate, Fernando Alonso, could win the race.

Following the allegations from Piquet Jr., the FIA stepped in and charged Renault for fixing the race in September 2009. While Briatore tried to take legal action against Piquet Jr. for false information, Renault came out and announced that Briatore had resigned from his post on the team.

The FIA declared that Briatore was banned from any of their events and the drivers that he managed would not get their super license renewed. In 2010, Briatore counter-sued the FIA in French courts for all the charges. The Tribunal de Grande Instance decided to overturn the ban and offer the Italian €15,000 as compensation.

After all the chaos, Flavio Briatore still remains connected to the world of F1. He is currently acting as a manager for Fernando Alonso.

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Flavio Briatore rumored to return to Alpine as an advisor

After 16 years, Flavio Briatore is rumored to make a return to Renault's Alpine F1 team as a senior advisor. These reports emerge amid Alpine's struggles in the sport.

Ever since the new aerodynamic regulations came into effect in 2022, the French team has not been able to fight the top teams. Furthemore, they have been plagued with several internal turmoils, with the team CEO Laurent Rossi and team principal Otmar Szafnauer both parting ways with the organization in 2023.

Alpine started their 2024 F1 season at the very back of the grid. Though they have drastically improved in the first eight races, they are still nowhere near the top teams - Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. At the Monaco GP, tensions rose between Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon as both crashed into each other, resulting in the latter retiring from the race.

Amid their struggles, Italian outlet Corriere della Serra and French outlet L'Equipe reported that Briatore has been contacted by Renault CEO Luca De Meo for a position at Alpine. The report claims that he could return to the team as a special advisor.

As of now, neither Flavio Briatore nor Alpine have confirmed anything about any such link.