Alpine has appointed former team boss Flavio Briatore to an executive position within the F1 division of the company, reuniting the Italian with Enstone. Following weeks of speculation, Alpine confirmed the 74-year-old Italian Flavio Briatore is returning to a position in F1 as an executive advisor to Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo, with his remit being a focus on the Formula 1 side of the company. Briatore is a well-known figure in F1, having spent two decades near the top of the sport through his involvement with Benetton and Renault.
Indeed, the Italian is directly responsible for having built up the Benetton team in the early 1990s and successfully lured Michael Schumacher away from Jordan after the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix. Briatore was the team boss of Benetton as the team won the Constructors’ Championship in 1995, along with Schumacher’s Drivers’ Championship wins that season and in 1994. There’s much that can be written about Briatore’s controversies, even away from F1, having been convicted of multiple counts of fraud during the 1980s – including a three-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy through his involvement in a team of ‘confidence tricksters’ setting up rigged gambling games.
He escaped a prison stay by moving to the Virgin Islands to live as a fugitive, only returning to the EU when his convictions were quashed. Having spent his time on the Virgin Islands setting up some Benetton stores and, having contributed directly to the clothing.
