Flavio Briatore is tipped to make F1 return by becoming a supervisor to Alpine, according to reports from Corriere Della Sera.
The 74 year old had once been the Managing Director of the Endstone based team during its Benetton and Renault days overseeing the world championships won by the team in the mid-1990’s and mid-2000’s.
However, his tenure within the sport came to a controversial end, as he was handed a lifetime ban for his involvement in the racefixing of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Whilst his lifetime ban was lifted in 2010, he had not up to this point taken up a new role within the sport, though has continued to attend races as a spectator.
The Italian publication Corriere Della Sera say that Briatore will return tothe team now known as Alpine in a ‘special supervisor’ role. This will not see him involved in trackside operations, though what this will involve for the 74-year-old on a day to day basis is not yet clear.
Nothing has yet been confirmed by the team, but had stated: “”As a team, we are in frequent contact with a number of industry experts in pursuit of improving overall performance. We consider all relevant inputs and, when appropriate, seek advice from people with experience and previous success.”
The move would come during a period of continuous change at the French team. This includes Otmar Szafnauer leaving his post as Team Principal last summer alongside Sporting Director Alan Permane, as well as Technical Director Matt Harman and Head of Aerodynamics Dirk De Beer having left just before the start of this season.
Alpine have had a troublesome start to the 2024 season, having only scored 2 points so far, sitting 9th in the Constructors Standings, though have been making some progress back to the midfield in recent races.
I’m a 23 year old journalist that loves all things racing. I have attended, the British Grand Prix and Belgian Grand Prix in previous years, and look forward to revisiting such iconic tracks again this year. Also, Daniel Ricciardo almost blanked me once when I tried to get a picture with him at Goodwood!
