Flavio Briatore visited Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters

[natural_051]

The Italian sporting media is all a flutter today with the news that Flavio Briatore recently visited Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters, toured the Gestione Sportiva with team principal Stefano Domenicali and went across to meet chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

Gazzetta dello Sport describes the visit as a “very great surprise” and speculates as to the motive for the visit. It happened four days ago, after the British Grand Prix, when Ferrari and the FIA were in a dispute about the sequence of events which led to Fernando Alonso’s penalty, which ruined his race.

Following the Singapore crash scandal last season, Briatore is now a free agent, no longer affiliated to the Renault F1 team. He managed to clear his name to a certain extent in the successful appeal against his lifetime ban from the FIA World Council.

However he is still under an order where he is not allowed to work in F1 until 2013.

There is talk in the F1 paddock that he is likely to start work with his old friend Bernie Ecclestone in the near future.

His position in the sport now is an interesting one, as he was one of the architects of the Formula One Teams Association and drove them towards the breakaway last summer. Although he is from the other end of the Italian political spectrum from Montezemolo and the two had a stormy relationship for many years, their work together on FOTA brought them closer together. Briatore was in charge of the commercial working group at FOTA and in that capacity was a kind of “shadow Bernie”.

But if Briatore does now work alongside Ecclestone in some capacity which does not violate his sentence, he will be in a poacher turned gamekeeper role in the negotiations over the 2013 Concorde Agreement, one with extensive insights into FOTA’s strategy and it may be that Montezemolo wanted to look him in the eyes and ask him his intentions.

We are about to enter into an interesting period when the teams are shaping up to demand a much higher share of the commercial revenues of the sport in the next Concorde Agreement. There are all sorts of theories about what Montezemolo personally wants to get from the negotiations. Bernie Ecclestone and former FIA president Max Mosley are believed to have long considered FOTA a Trojan horse for Montezemolo.

Given the background here, it is unlikely that Briatore went to Maranello simply to have a coffee.

There are many possible reasons why he might have gone there; he is the boss of a company which still manages Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. He could have been there to sound out Montezemolo on behalf of Ecclestone.

However the converse is also possible and he could even have been talking about a role in a future F1 without Ecclestone and let’s not forget that Briatore and Montezemolo were all for FOTA starting an alternative racing series last season.

Indeed, the way that this story has emerged and knowing a little of how things work in Italy, there is a message here to someone from Montezemolo and Briatore. Looking at the provenance of the story and the writers involved, it is more likely to have come from Briatore than from Ferrari.

Whatever the political motive, it is unlikely that Briatore has any kind of return to racing in mind, as he said in May, “Seeing the way it is now, I don’t enjoy it anymore, the adrenaline to do it is not there anymore. This is something I don’t miss at all.”

source: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/

[F1ferrarifanUSA]

Maybe He will take over Stefano s position in future

[Katu]

Maybe He will take over Stefano s position in future

i deeply hope he won't

[Tifoso]

I hope he's on the way. Don't care for his personal life much, but he can run a team.

[Katu]

he clearly showed how to run a team last years, didn't he?

[Red_Diamond]

Ferrari should be focusing on themselves and not dirty themselves with this loser.

[Suzie]

Maybe He will take over Stefano s position in future

I wouldn't want Flavio associated with Ferrari in any way whatsoever. He always seems to be up to his armpits in scandal.

[F1ferrarifanUSA]

I hope he's on the way. Don't care for his personal life much, but he can run a team.

YES! he has proven it already!

[sav_pap]

I don't care about his personal life or the background. If he can do it better than Stefano then hire him.

[Stormsearcher]

Hmm.. he surely can run a team and that was my first thought when i saw the headline... that he is vying for stefanos post.
I guess he is a formidable boss etc., but he plays too dirty and i dont think ferrari will want to have that on their resume. I hope he stays out.

[mad_ani]

Well they got Alonso in, maybe they can get his mentor/father figure in so they work as a combo...He is still Alonso's manager after all, so he could just have visited Marenello..

Ferrari got in Pat Fry who is supposed to report to SD directly...so why would they need Flavio now....:Hmm

[Greig]

Thought the FIA banned him from being a manager

[impactX]

Quoted from a news site:

Briatore is banned from having "any operational role in Formula One until 31 December 2012, as well as in all the other competitions registered on the FIA calendars until the end of the 2011 sporting season" following a settlement reached between the Italian and the FIA in April.

[mad_ani]

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/6063.html


Flavio Briatore's indefinite ban from motorsport has been overturned by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.

The court reversed the decision of the World Motor Sports Council (WMSC), which hit Briatore with the ban for his part in conspiring to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Briatore was also awarded €15,000 (US$21,600) compensation, although that figure was short of the €1 million (US$1.44m) he was seeking. The French court gave the FIA 15 days to pay or face a €10,000 per day fine.

Renault's ex-director of engineering, Pat Symonds, also had his five-year ban overturned for his part in the scandal. He was awarded US$7,200 compensation; again well short of the US$722,000 he had sought.

The verdict said that the FIA and WMSC did not have the authority to impose such a penalty on team members, such as Briatore and Symonds, as they do not hold a licence to compete.

"The FIA ... can sanction licence holders, leaders, members of an ASN [national motorsport authorities], but it cannot with respect to third parties, take measures equivalent to a sanction - in contravention of article 28 of its statutes," the verdict read. "The World Council, by forbidding FIA members and licences to work with Messrs Briatore and Symonds, on the one hand added a negative condition - to not work with them - which is not provided for within the FIA statutes."

Article 28 allows for the provision of an appeal of an FIA ruling by an external body, only if all areas of appeal have been exhausted within the sporting body. It goes on to state that this is what all licence holders agree to when taking part in an FIA sanctioned event, but technically neither Briatore or Symonds are licence holders.

The verdict added: "The decision of the World Council was presided over by the FIA president, who was well known to be in conflict with Briatore, with Mr Mosley having played a leading role in launching the enquiry and its investigation in violation of the principle of separation of the power of the bodies. The decision [of the FIA World Motor Sport Council] is not annulled but declared irregular, and rendered without effect in its provisions against Mr Briatore and Mr Symonds."

The judge told the court that the FIA's evidence was weak, and that lawyers were unable to question witnesses because their identity was withheld. He also told the FIA that it would have to publicise the verdict in the French press at its own expense.

"The FIA is consequently obliged to notify within two weeks it is lifting the provisions to its members and licence holders, particularly the 13 teams entered into the FIA Formula One world championship 2010," the verdict read. "This must be published in the French newspapers, of the choice of Mr. Briatore and Mr. Symonds - at the FIA's cost."

The FIA's lawyer Jean-Francois Prat told Associated Press that the governing body would likely launch an appeal, preventing Briatore from returning to the sport until the appeals process had run its course. However, if the judgement stands Briatore's lawyer Philippe Ouakrat said: "We are in a situation in which Mr Briatore is reinstated in all his capacities to act in Formula One or motorsport."

"We have the feeling that some justice has been reinstated," Ouakrat added. "I'm certain that the court was quite shocked by the way that the decision was made against Mr Briatore."

Renault got off relatively lightly from the original WMSC hearing, with a two-year suspended ban, and decided not to appeal. Driver Nelson Piquet Jnr was given immunity in exchange for evidence.




But the ban was overturned..so he returned as manager for Alonso and Webber...i'd imagine...

he still manages Webber
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=377688&FS=F1

[Greig]

Did he?

[mad_ani]

Yep...

From James Allen blog...and the article above ;-)


There are many possible reasons why he might have gone there; he is the boss of a company which still manages Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. He could have been there to sound out Montezemolo on behalf of Ecclestone.

may not be directly...but in some way he does exercise control


He did win 2 WDC/WCC for Renault with Alonso...He might be like what Brawn was to Schumi...

[Greig]

So he is the boss of the management company, not their actual managers?

[Tony]

F1 is all about being dirty.... I'd be happy with him running Ferrari.... I don't want a team of sheeps, but a pack of wolves :-D

[Hornet]

If Flavio and Alonso could be a deadly combo, then by all means bring it on

Agree with Tony. We've only been losing playing nice. Time to play rough

[aroutis]

If Flavio and Alonso could be a deadly combo, then by all means bring it on

Agree with Tony. We've only been losing playing nice. Time to play rough+1 could not say it better. Just look at McLaren.

[Tifosi]

Yeah, sod it. Let's just get better at playing dirty and forget why we're in the sport in the first place. :roll

[straycat]

say what you will about flav but his girlfriend/wife whatever sure was easy on the eye.
seriously though, i am not sure he would ever be hired by ferrari as he would bring too much baggage... flav working with bernie, now that is interesting!!!!

[Becool70]

Hi guys I always find it fascinating how some folks stick their head in the sand regarding corruption in F1. Flavio's downfall , if u can call it that, was Mr Mosleys betrayal and head hunting abilities,, Mr Mosley and Flavio were not the best of mates and before Mr M left F1 he wanted to take Flavio with him, FB is not the first to do tricks in F1 and won't be the last.

Some of the decisions made this year in some races has shown that race fixing goes beyond Flavio and Co. I for one love Flavio and I WISH he would get involved with Ferrari and start kicking some behinds around the place...

[Becool70]

If Flavio and Alonso could be a deadly combo, then by all means bring it on

Agree with Tony. We've only been losing playing nice. Time to play rough

+1 :-P

[Agron]

F1 is all about being dirty.... I'd be happy with him running Ferrari.... I don't want a team of sheeps, but a pack of wolves :-DIndeed, in ideal circumstances I would like seeing sheep eating wolves for breakfast but after understanding what goes behind the curtains I don't care anymore about being the looser goody-two shoes. The only thing that matters is wining, everything else is soon forgotten after the succesion of monthly scandals.

[DJN4CER]

F1 is all about being dirty.... I'd be happy with him running Ferrari.... I don't want a team of sheeps, but a pack of wolves :-D

If there is any kind of petition to fire Stefano Dummynicali and have him replaced with Briatore I want to be the first one to sign. I've grown tired of hearing Stefano week after week give these little wussy politicaly correct speeches about how Ferrari is improving, and his hissy fit complaints about how things went against Ferrari. Briatore brings a "balls to the wall" and an in your face attitude that Stefano will never have.

P.S. Get Newey while your at it...

[Becool70]

If there is any kind of petition to fire Stefano Dummynicali and have him replaced with Briatore I want to be the first one to sign. I've grown tired of hearing Stefano week after week give these little wussy politicaly correct speeches about how Ferrari is improving, and his hissy fit complaints about how things went against Ferrari. Briatore brings a "balls to the wall" and an in your face attitude that Stefano will never have.

P.S. Get Newey while your at it...

I agree with everything u wrote but the Stefano bit, he is a good ppl person and knows how to handle the drivers well.. we need BOTH there, Flavio does tend to have a number 1 driver and this could create an issue with Massa..

[Becool70]

Another issue some folks dont consider is that Ferrari is not ran by Stefano but by who is paying the $$$$$ and in this instance its Santander and his CEO is a big fan of ALO/ FLAVIO combo so if he wants it will be!!

[vcs316]

Another issue some folks dont consider is that Ferrari is not ran by Stefano but by who is paying the $$$$$ and in this instance its Santander and his CEO is a big fan of ALO/ FLAVIO combo so if he wants it will be!!

:roll

Ferrari is run by Luca D and the management team. Stefano is the team principal and calls the shots for the Ferrari F1 team. Luca is also actively involved with the Ferrari F1 team.

Santander is only a sponsor and has no say in team/personnel management.

[Becool70]

:roll

Ferrari is run by Luca D and the management team. Stefano is the team principal and calls the shots for the Ferrari F1 team. Luca is also actively involved with the Ferrari F1 team.

Santander is only a sponsor and has no say in team/personnel management.

YES Stefano is the boss but $$$$ talks and if the major sponsor says something they listen my friend... Look what happend to Raikonnen/ Alonso affair...

[vcs316]

YES Stefano is the boss but $$$$ talks and if the major sponsor says something they listen my friend... Look what happend to Raikonnen/ Alonso affair...

There are literally thousands of posts on TSN regarding the Alonso/Kimi affair. I really don't want to comment on the same..

Fact is Santander has zero say in the management and running of the team.

[Suzie]

I'm really surprised that there's so many people gunning for Flavio to join Ferrari.

I wonder if they'd say the same thing if WE ended up being embroiled in a huge scandal a la CrashGate. Okay, nothing was ever proven 100% with regards to Flavio's involvement with that, but I still wouldn't want Ferrari being associated with someone who may have possibly instructed someone to crash in order to influence the outcome of a race. I accept that dirty tricks happen in F1 but you don't need to be a total hood to win. Jean Todt and Ross Brawn weren't.

[mad_ani]

I'm really surprised that there's so many people gunning for Flavio to join Ferrari.

I wonder if they'd say the same thing if WE ended up being embroiled in a huge scandal a la CrashGate. Okay, nothing was ever proven 100% with regards to Flavio's involvement with that, but I still wouldn't want Ferrari being associated with someone who may have possibly instructed someone to crash in order to influence the outcome of a race. I accept that dirty tricks happen in F1 but you don't need to be a total hood to win. Jean Todt and Ross Brawn weren't.

Totally agree to this...Absolutely hate him after the crash gate...coz it did affect Ferrari's fortunes in that race....I hope Ferrari keeps its distance..Anyways I guess we dont have to worry much as he banned from actively participating until 2012 end...

Alonso was so close to Flavio..he offered to be the driver of the bridal car during Flavio's wedding...so I am guessing, its more of Alonso who would want Flavio in, rather than Ferrari..

[Greig]

Crashgate would not have affected us had we not made a mistake really :-)

How can you guess Alonso wants Flavio in? LOL

[mad_ani]

Crashgate would not have affected us had we not made a mistake really :-)

How can you guess Alonso wants Flavio in? LOL


Well we wouldn't have been under that pressure to get in and out of the pits as soon as they were opened...It was a chain of events which eventually cost us..:-)

As I said, its only a guess that Alonso would want to be re associated or have some sort of an active working relationship..:-)

[Tobes]

I hope he's on the way. Don't care for his personal life much, but he can run a team.

Assume that's a typo Lou, there's an 'i' in ruin...

:-D

[Greig]

Well we wouldn't have been under that pressure to get in and out of the pits as soon as they were opened...It was a chain of events which eventually cost us..:-)

As I said, its only a guess that Alonso would want to be re associated or have some sort of an active working relationship..:-)

It was a run of the mill pitstop, something they practice over and over, I guess Alonso is happy with the Ferrari management as it is :-)

[Agron]

Another issue some folks dont consider is that Ferrari is not ran by Stefano but by who is paying the $$$$$ and in this instance its Santander and his CEO is a big fan of ALO/ FLAVIO combo so if he wants it will be!!lol Ferrari is HUGE compared to the sponsorship money one single sponsor provides, in fact they could spend far more than they do now in the racing team, but personnel and testing limits force them to spend less. They could probably run their cars free of sponsors and still race without problems, that's the kind of money their road car division/merchandising makes for them. Of course, if sponsors provide hundreds of millions a year for a chance of exposure on their cars and merchandising, they are welcome...

[Katu]

i don't want that cheating who told a driver who he managed and who's teamboss he was to crash and risk not only his own life, but also specators and marshals lives. 2 parts of this crashgate have admited doing it, but seems like Flav is still in denial of what he did and thinks he is clean as a sheet of paper. excuse me, but this man screwed two young drivers careers and also put a questionmark above Fernando's reputation as a person who was involved with this. Flav is sick, he should have stayed banned

[slither]

i don't want that cheating who told a driver who he managed and who's teamboss he was to crash and risk not only his own life, but also specators and marshals lives. 2 parts of this crashgate have admited doing it, but seems like Flav is still in denial of what he did and thinks he is clean as a sheet of paper. excuse me, but this man screwed two young drivers careers and also put a questionmark above Fernando's reputation as a person who was involved with this. Flav is sick, he should have stayed banned

:thumb

I am frequently criticise Stefano this season, but it is too early to replace him.

[Ferrarichamp]

I'm really surprised that there's so many people gunning for Flavio to join Ferrari.

I wonder if they'd say the same thing if WE ended up being embroiled in a huge scandal a la CrashGate. Okay, nothing was ever proven 100% with regards to Flavio's involvement with that, but I still wouldn't want Ferrari being associated with someone who may have possibly instructed someone to crash in order to influence the outcome of a race. I accept that dirty tricks happen in F1 but you don't need to be a total hood to win. Jean Todt and Ross Brawn weren't.

and we can't prove 100% that Alonso wasn't involved in crashgate either, to say nothing of spygate.

[Suzie]

and we can't prove 100% that Alonso wasn't involved in crashgate either, to say nothing of spygate.

That's a brave thing to suggest on here these days with the Alonso fanatics ;-)

[Hermann]

That's a brave thing to suggest on here these days with the Alonso fanatics ;-)

Interesting remark. Do you know that even James Allen is scared of the Kimibots? He mentioned them in one of his blogs, writing that he doesn't want to say anything negative about Kimi because it would make Kimifans spam his blog. Haven't heard anything alike about Alonsofans so far.

I'm a fan of Fernando and i agree: we can't prove that, of course. We also can't prove he was. Its therefore redundant to discuss this, but if you like to discuss it, just go ahead. I'm sure no-one will be ripping your head off for trying :-)

[straycat]

is flav still fernandos agent/ if so that could be why he was there?

[Hermann]

is flav still fernandos agent/ if so that could be why he was there?

Flavio is the owner/boss of the manager company Fernando's manager is working for. As far as i know. But i doubt it had to do with that.

[mad_ani]

It was a run of the mill pitstop, something they practice over and over, I guess Alonso is happy with the Ferrari management as it is :-)


I really hope he is...coz I wouldnt want to see Flavio in Ferrari colors...

[hogo]

Flavio in Ferrari? That would be awesome! But even more awesome would be to see him replacing Ecclestone!