Ferrari has to go shopping, says Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore still enjoys like crazy talking about Formula 1, especially now that his protégé, Fernando Alonso has returned to playing a leading role, the only antidote to the boredom of a Verstappennized world championship. He was a winner in Formula 1 and enjoys giving advice. After all, he just gave Alonso the right one: go to Aston Martin. And Fernando returned to the podium.

Here it is connected with the Politics in the Ball on Radio Rai’s Parliament. After dueling with an old friend of his, the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa over Inter-Juve, with the Nerazzurri La Russa lashing out at the referee, he dedicates himself to his great love, Formula 1. If he were the CEO what would you do about Ferrari? Here is Briatore’s answer: “It’s not like something extraordinary is happening this year. How many years has it been since Ferrari won the World Championship? Last year it got off to a very good start, then the federation changed the rules to avoid jumping and Ferrari lost competitiveness. If I had been in Ferrari I would not have changed the regulations. They must also be more incisive from a political point of view. And then even poor Marchionne’s argument about having all Italians in the team cannot work in an international sport like Formula 1. It makes no sense. Last year they had to focus on Leclerc. The World Championship is won by only one rider. He was better off with the car, you had to bet everything on him”.

Briatore has a recipe. Ultimately simple: copy the Aston Martin. Not Red Bull. Aston Martin would be enough: “In Montezemolo’s time there were important points of reference from Todt to Domenicali. Now the team is missing. You don’t know who to talk to. Vasseur has arrived, whom I know well and is a good and capable person. We don’t have to blame him, the car was already done. Now he has to put the team together, he has to go shopping in other teams. I haven’t seen them shopping in Maranello for years. The team can fix itself, the owners can get busy. Look at the Aston Martin, who thought they’d find it up front. But Stroll moved into the market smartly. Ferrari is looking for some young talent. He can. It’s not easy to bring the English to Maranello, but to make the leap in quality, Maranello needs to inject new ideas. The world has changed, even Ferrari must change”.

Some unsolicited advice for Maranello still arrives: “Ferrari was not brilliant even in communication. In winter they are always world champions, then… once again on the day of the presentation I heard a manager (it was the CEO Benedetto Vigna ed) say that a Ferrari so fast had never been seen before. These are all things that confuse the fans and make them angry. You don’t have to promise.”

“It’s not all to be thrown away – he adds – let’s think of Leclerc in the front row on Saturday before the penalty. They created too much expectation, but there are others who have worked better. Now recovering this gap is very very difficult. If I had to say who worked best, I would say Aston Martin. I expected Red Bull, we knew they would be in front. Ferrari always has too high expectations. You start to win some races…”.

Today Briatore will also take care of a thousand other things, but he hasn’t lost his old flair. Alonso’s decision to go to Aston Martin has his hand: “I insisted a lot with Fernando that he go to Aston Martin. Stroll, unlike others, has changed a lot in the last period, he has taken technicians from Red Bull and Mercedes. Let’s remember that he started from Force India. You all see how he changed it by investing in men and beyond. I told Fernando we risk going with Aston Martin which has moved very well on the market rather than staying at Alpine which hasn’t changed”. The start was good. Very good. But can you dream? Briatore does it: “Right now we are 14-15 seconds behind Red Bull, with an important step on the car you can think of winning a race or two and maybe finishing in the top three in the championship which would be a big surprise. And given how Fernando is riding right now, I think it’s possible. He’s not in shape, he’s in super shape. Someone told me he’s old, he can’t see well, all shit… He’s a phenomenon. He has re-motivated the team, he is giving something new. At forty he is the novelty of Formula 1”.