The Italian Job

Blame it on Flavio … shall we ? The Italian businessman turned F1 manager has once again found himself in the middle of an official controversy. For whatever it is worth – Piquet Jr is right – It is indeed impossible for a driver to lose a car in that particular corner of the circuit where he crashed.

To comment on this man’s ethical reputation in F1, is a sport in itself. To the naked eye ,he is the man who has provided 4 famous driver world championships- twice Schumi & twice Alonso. However to some people in the pit garage,it is quite a joke. As Nelson Piquet Jr says ,”everyone knows that his (Briatore) ego is bigger than anything else. Talking to him on the pit radio feels like listening to something my sister would say about the car.”

Others say that majority of his influence in Renault F1 is because of his relationship with Bernie, as they co-own a football club (with L.N Mittal). Indeed an interesting character, who has recently been scolded by Piquet’s compatriot Barrichello. Flavio reportedly stooped down to personal levels and commented about Piquet’s relationship with a 50 year old man.

And amongst all that drama – Briatore opts to quit and tries to emerge as a saviour for Renault. I say he has much more to be afraid of. He could face possible extradition to Singapore, to face criminal charges for ordering a dangerous and violent incident, during a sports event.

Even Felipe Massa or Ferrari may press charges for that matter, as Massa may claim that he lost the 2008 world championship because of these events at the Singapore night race. It was just 1 point between him and Lewis.

Let me also strip Flavio Briatore of another honor . It was not him but Tom Walkinshaw, who lured young driver Michael Schumacher from the Jordan team, after his first F1 race in 1991.

After all is said and done, there is still more to be said and done here !

A più tardi Mr. Briatore ….