Flavio Briatore: growing Alpine with Colapinto, Gasly + Gucci

0:00This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it. And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today.

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1:45Under the leadership of Flavio Briatore, Alpine are making progress. I arrived last year in Formula 1 with Alpine. Alpine was P10, but from P10 we've done a good job, but we're just at the beginning. It's a really demanding time, you know, to managing a team like Alpine. But I love it. With Mercedes engines powering them, Gucci arriving as the team's main sponsor in 2027 and a strong driver lineup, the pieces are falling into place for Alpine to fight at the front. Franco is integrating much better in the team. He's improving a lot. I believe Pierre is one of the top six drivers. Hello and welcome to F1 Beyond the Grid with me, Tom Clarkson, and Alpine's executive advisor, Flavio Briatore.

2:38Flavio has a huge history of success with Team Enstone in its various guises. He led Benetton to World Championships with Michael Schumacher in the 90s, before then repeating that feat with Renault and Fernando Alonso in the 2000s. So how does he achieve the same with Alpine now? I asked Flavio if he's trying to create Benetton 2.0, whether he has a timescale for the team to fight for titles, and what he makes of his drivers, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colopinto. In typical Flavio fashion, he tells some funny stories about replacing Jenson Button with Alonso at Renault, firing Jackie Stewart, and his rather direct criticism of Franco in the latest series of Drive to Survive.

3:22And Flavio also talks about the deal that will see them become Gucci Racing Alpine Formula One team from next season.

3:37Flavio, it's great to have you on the show again. Good morning. How are you? Super. Very well. I wanted to ask you, first of all, how busy you are, because there's a lot happening in Formula One with Alpine, but do you still have all of your other businesses going on in the background? Make Formula One easy. how do you juggle everything first i sold a big part of the business the food and beverage last year so now i pretty much organized i have a young manager and normally i spend one hour a day for food and beverage if you want and the rest is formula one formula one keep 90 of my time look and how much are you enjoying your racing this year because you've already doubled the tally of points from 2025.

4:27The team feels like it's really buzzing at the moment. Don't forget, we've done the agreement with Mercedes. It changed a lot our performance in the track and gave more motivation to everybody. And I enjoy it, enjoying the way I arrived last year in Formula 1 with Alpine. Alpine was P10 because it was not Cadillac yet. It's not your P11. But from P10, we've done a good jump, but we're just at the beginning. How different is Team Enstone today to when you last ran it 20 years ago? The building is the same. Maybe we have the simulator, this is different. There's a few new machinery and this and that.

5:15But the team is the same. The quality of the people is good. and we have a lot of young people in the team in Enstone. I don't see any difference, you know. The entrance is the same, my office is the same, and everything is the same. I don't see everybody is very competitive. You know, it's Formula 1. The DNA of Formula 1 never changes. And the DNA of the team hasn't changed? Because I remember you 20 years ago as a team that was full of just out-and-out racers with some big characters like Jonathan Wheatley, Alan Permain. Now both are team principal and they're very happy, you know, because I have a fantastic career in Formula One, both guys.

5:59But, you know, in Formula One we are very good to creating a monster. And now is the time to build up again a team and to build up again the motivation and make sure that people are doing the right job in the team and make sure that people are motivated, make sure everything is transparent. and it's a really demanding time, you know, to managing a team like Alpine. But I love it, you know. I'm back in my job, if you want. I've done quite well in Benetton, in Renault, and now I try to help Alpine to be competitive. We need doing everything that's possible to motivate everybody to doing the best job as possible.

6:42And the result is always Sunday, you know. We have a company, our balance sheet. Normal companies present the balance sheet every six months. Our balance sheet is every week. But you need to put everything together. You need a little bit of time. How difficult is it to build a winning team these days? By the time you've factored in gardening leave and budgets, is it harder to build that team today than it was 20 years ago? Yeah, because the price of the people has changed as well. Everybody's looking at the same river. We need to try from people outside of Formula 1 as well to enjoy the team. You know, Formula 1 is very difficult in one way.

7:24It's very simple in the one way. But we complicated Formula 1 a lot. You know, we have an hour, hour of the meeting, one for nothing. We need to concentrate on the performance of the product we have. I believe whatever product you have, the system is the same. You're managing people. For this, we need looking as well outside of the circuit of Formula 1 to have the right people, to have the right job, etc., etc. As well, it's a lot of the new blood, new people, enthusiastic to working for a racing team. Maybe it's not in the racing team yet. We need fishing, all these kind of people as well. But where are you doing your fishing, as you say?

8:05What industries are you looking at? I do university, aerodynamic, et cetera, et cetera, you know, automotive. We believe there's a lot of talent around the world, especially now, you know, especially now there's a lot of young talent. We need the capacity to individuate the right people for doing the right job. And this is the effort I do myself, I do it with my people, I do it with engineering. And like the racing team, the racing team this year is much, much better than not last year. But would you agree that Formula One is a unique ecosystem where some people find it hard to survive, right?

8:48Coming in from other industries, some people find the way things are done here, just the intensity of it. It's seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Not everyone wants that. If you see in the food and beverage business, it's the same. You're working summer, you're working Christmas, you're working New Year's, you know. It's the same. You tell me Formula One is very demanding. I tell you about the restaurant, it's very demanding. I talk about restaurant, important restaurant. You know, you don't have day off. Basically, you have the day off. Summer, you're working. Winter, you're working. And Christmas, you're working.

9:24New Year's is the best night. So we don't need to create in Formula 1 the more difficult, tough, this and that. It's the one business, much tougher than a Formula 1. You make less money than a Formula 1. Are you putting a time scale on when you want to be challenging for the World Championship? Because other teams are doing that. Williams have come out recently saying 2030, they want to be challenging for the title. Audi have given the same timeline. And of course, the people currently challenging for the World Championship want to still be there as well. Not everyone can win. What's your timescale for Alpine?

9:58I don't have it. What did you make of Laurent Rossi when he was in charge of Alpine? He said, we need to be successful in 100 races. I don't know him at all. I never talked with him. I don't know what he's talking about. But whatever he was talking was wrong. Okay, so there's no timeline. Can we talk drivers? Last year, you re-signed Pierre on a long-term deal. Why was that important for you? I believe Pierre is one of the top six drivers. First, we need fixing the car, and then we need the performance of the car. And after that, I don't think the issue for me in this moment is the driver. The issue for me is a much better performance in the car.

10:41The moment you have the performance of the car, you're looking for a driver. But I'm happy with Pierre. Pierre is a very underestimating driver, if you want. And for me, if you want to put the leading group, ask me the name because I never tell you, but the leading group, Pierre is one in the top six. And Franco, we don't know. If you see last year Antonelli, nobody believed it. Last year, the performance of Antonelli in 2026. And Franco is integrating much better in the team. He's improving a lot mentally, technically, relationship with the team. You know, let's see. The same we've done with Renault.

11:26When I take Fernando, you remember Fernando, I sent one year Fernando in Minardi to understand. And after I chose Fernando to replace St. James Sombato, you guys would go crazy. All the British press go crazy. I don't think we did. He fired the world champion to take the Spanish guy and blah, blah, blah. I always tell you, only the future tell me if I was right or not. I was right. You are right. You were right. But I think we did recognize the talent. No, after. You recognize after. We started winning race. Absolutely. I remember the press conference. I'd done it in the motorhome with your guys.

12:04Because you're managing the guy, because of this and that, because of this and that. You fire the world champion, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, story is the same. First, let's see to improving our technical department. And after that, we're looking for what kind of possibility we have. In just 2028, we have an agreement with Pierre. He's doing a super job. Has he stepped up into the sort of team leader role, as you would have hoped? Yes. Yes, 100%. He's a natural leader. 100%. Little by little, you start knowing better. And honestly, he's a leader. He's a leader, he's very well integrated with the team, and he's working very hard in the simulator, maybe too much.

12:52Again, the simulator now is, we have a double race. We have the race in the track, we have the race in the simulator. Pierre is a very nice guy, very nice family, and the team is very transparent with him, and him is very transparent with us. Only this way, he's working together. A lot of times the team tries to keep secret, to keep this and that. With me, no secret anymore. With everybody, you be transparent, everybody knows what you're doing, etc., etc. Only like this, you improve in the team. This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone.

13:37From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it. And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula 1 have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive.

14:22The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it. And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA.

15:13Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive. The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com.

15:58Can I ask you more about Franco? Because we have seen an extraordinary turnaround by him this year. Why do you think that is? We're working very hard with him. He's moving to Monaco. I see him a lot in Monaco. We're talking a lot with him. You know, this young driver arriving in Formula 1 with a lot of pressure. And to settle mentally is not easy. We need help him. We've done a lot of work with Franco. And now, little by little, the confidence arrives. He has a talent. Okay, just forget. He has a talent. I don't know our level of talent we arrive with him. But sure, he has a talent. This is 100%.

16:43Like Antonelli, he still has a talent. This year, he showed up the talent. And Franco is not showing up the talent completely because still in this way. But honestly, if you tell me, I don't know. Let's see. Flavio, can I remind you of a quote from Drive to Survive? Yeah, I don't know. This series. You are the problem you have to understand, is what you said to Franco. Was that a bit much? Do you regret being that hard on him? No. You know, it's always this feeling about the drive is untouchable. And the mechanic is working day and night. last night at Eastwood, our mechanic finished at 2 o 'clock in the morning.

17:23But when you talk about the driver, you need very careful to talk with the driver, very careful. No, it's not like that. The driver is the manager in the director of the company. The driver is bringing the result to the team. And you need to tell the truth to what I believe and it tell to the driver. I don't go in the back to talk with the press. You know what? No, no, no, no. I go in front to him. The problem is you. Simple as that. Now, the problem is not the problem anymore because Franco is performing well. At the time, what's the problem? I tell him, between you and Pierre, you have a thousand people working for your guys.

18:01And you need respect these thousand people working for your guys. Sure, with different salaries, you need to demonstrate to me, you doing everything that's possible to perform. It's a confidence game, this, isn't it? Is that the main difference we've seen in Franco? The confidence is there. And, you know, before you had the briefing, it was looking always what we are doing, you know. I thought, man, this is wrong. You need driving the car in your way. You don't need driving the car thinking about the telemetry, this and that. You have a talent. And I tell Franco, you need driving the car like you enjoy driving the car.

18:39This is the job you like. Enjoy the job. Yeah. Talking about enjoying the job, when he did the show car run in Buenos Aires and what was it, 600 ,000 people came out to watch him. That was just before Miami when we saw the turnaround. The turnaround was in the beginning already. You saw it already before then? Yeah, it was in the beginning already. But sure. Actually, he did a defensive masterclass in China, didn't he? Yeah. I never believed it. I believe in 10 ,000, 20, half million people. To see nothing. Because everybody was behind everybody. You have half a million people see nothing. And the strange is, Franco never won nothing.

19:29I still don't understand this half a million people or more or six hundred standing there for Franco. I don't understand. You've always seen the bigger picture in Formula One. Would you like to see a race in Argentina? back in Argentina? If I still have Franco, yes. If I know Franco, I don't care. Well, Flavio, give us an exclusive. Is your intention to retain Franco for 2027? If Franco is performing like he's performing now, and the relationship between Franco and Pierre is like now, you know. It's the same we have with Alonso at the time, with Fisichella, with Truly, super relationship. Why not?

20:17I prefer to have... I know Franco very well now. We know Pierre very well. We are in the moment to build up the team. Consistency? Maybe. We have plenty of routes to go just to the end of August. And before the summer break, we decide. In the past, your main successes have come based around one big driver, whether it was Michael Schumacher at Benetton, obviously, then Fernando at Renault. Do you think, you know, the icing on the cake for Alpine to be challenging for world championships, do you need a Max Verstappen in the team? Or can you do it a slightly different way this time? First, I need the wallet.

21:00I don't have this kind of money, you know. I agree. I agree. Max is a super driver. The Alonso, the Schumacher in this moment is number one driver. I believe as well, if you are a competitive car, you see, Max, the moment the Red Bull was a super car, like we have Mercedes now. Mercedes is a super car. In delivery, incredible, incredible result. And if you tell me six months ago between Antonelli and Max, you take, you know, everybody take marks. Now I think so, Toto have a drama because he never spent so quick. I love a drama like Toto. It reminds me of McLaren 2007, Alonso and Alton. Fernando, because Rondonis underestimated Hamilton completely.

21:52You remember Rondonis was one of my drivers, Kovalainen. And Rondonis at the time, estimated Kovalainen was a superstar. I give to him because I believe he was not a superstar. After that, we arrived into the two guys, Fernando and Hamilton. After one race, Ron Dennis and Sarandes and I understand how quick was... Now it's the same situation I've been to Toto. Yeah. Different topic. Can we talk Gucci? Yes, I love it. You're going to be the best-looking team in the paddock next year. Is that the plan? We work in six months, seven months. And for five months, nobody knows we negotiated with Gucci because we have only a few people involved in the negotiation.

22:37After the moment, you involve more people and everybody talking, et cetera, et cetera. Gucci is still one of the three best brands in the world. I need something in my team to upgrading the name of the team. Upgrading, most important for me was Gucci Alpine Alpine Go Up. because Gucci is up already. We have the first luxury brand in the car in Formula One. We have Louis Vuitton, which is part of the sponsor of the event. Gucci is in the arena. And for this was so big interest, if you want, in the Gucci deal. It was 1.2 billion visualization. You see all the media, you know, that was crazy. and more important the people from Gucci is very enthusiastic to be in Formula One so you reckon we re-motivate everybody in Gucci Gucci needs re-motivating so I believe it's a super deal with both with the team with Gucci brand and with the finance as well we have from Gucci I saw they photographed their summer collection in Monaco so they're already super we're doing We're doing the merchandising.

23:55We're doing one line of merchandising every shop Gucci. You see, we have the place that you have in Monaco in the beach, you know, La Rose Devon. Now it's branded by Gucci. And you have every day girls arriving with Gucci dress, with Instagram, to make sure this is the restaurant. We are already still fully booked because this place is fully booked from the moment they take over. But now we are over, over fully booked. And what is amazing is that all the women are arriving with Gucci dress. It's unbelievable. I believe it was a successful deal. If I say to you this feels like Benetton 2.0, is that an accurate comparison of what you're trying to do here?

24:36100%. You are trying to do it? 100%. Benetton was, you know, we are a t-shirt maker. You remember Ron Dennis. Ron Dennis, in the daytime, you never make it because you're so good to make t-shirts. And this is different business. It is what you ask me first. It's no different business. It's managing people. And we've done it with Benetton. With zero minus 12 experience. You know, I never see a race in my life. I never see a Formula Race once. Only one guy I know for Formula One was Jackie Stewart. Because he was living in my building in New York. And Jackie at the time was the face of the Ford.

25:14You see him on television all the time in the sport. Did you chat to Jackie back in the day? I remember. I put the counter with Jackie. I had the counter with Jackie. And after two, three races, Jackie said, hey, no, you're in the shit. So Jackie, I know myself I am in the shit. I fired him. You fired Jackie Stewart. Yeah, I fired Jackie Stewart. We still have a very good friend. At the time, I know I am in the trouble. If I tell somebody to help me, tell me you are in the trouble, I don't need any help. I know myself I am in the trouble. And our collaboration was finished. Finito. Look, final topic, Flavio, is just where Formula One is at.

25:56Because I think Gucci coming in says great things about Alpine, but it also says great things about the sport of Formula One. How much more do you think Formula One can grow? Do you think there's still a lot of room? Formula One, the moment Liberty takes over and the moment Stefano is in charge, is growing massively in very quick time. If you see all the sponsors, Formula 1, they're the best sponsors in the world, between what we have in the car, what we have in the two sponsors, the event, etc., etc. We have a Gucci now in the car, and we have a Louis Vuitton as well. It's the two luxury brands in the world.

26:33Stefano realized as well, to have a Gucci in Formula 1, it's a big brand. To have both brands like this in the basket of Formula 1, I believe it's fantastic. but Formula One now the level of Formula One is very high he was very young at the time of Benetton we tried to race in America and we had the agreement including Ron Dennis because he was always a difficult guy to pay for racing America nobody wants us and now we go to Austin and we have about 500 ,000 people for the weekend what the people done you know I'm friends with Stefano for a long time, but he's done a super job. Super, super job.

27:19You've always been very close to the movers and shakers at the very top of Formula One. You're very close to Bernie Ecclestone. You're very close to Stefano now. How different is Stefano's way of running the sport to Bernie? What are successful? Stefano is much more open. And he's much more modern, if you want. it's two different ways and Bernie was a one way boss Stefan was thinking about and every time he's working much close with the team he's working close with the sponsor he's more disposer to the team principal or whatever both in different time have a very good success but the Formula 1 he'll never be successful right now this is the reality Flavio, it has been a real pleasure to catch up again.

28:16Thank you very much for your time. Final question. Who's going to win the World Cup? Football. I hope Brazil. Why Brazil? I don't know, because Ancelotti is the coach. And you know, is he a friend? Yeah. No, I know my friend. I know him very well. And if I want to pick up some team, I believe Brazil is the more talented club in the World Cup. plus it depends on the coach if you put all this talent together but I think so I support Brazil Flavio, thank you very much thank you guys