Briatore wants to put Man back at the heart of F1

As usual, Flavio Briatore has a strong opinion on Formula One and, in an interview with the Italian site Omnicorse.it, the Italian sharply criticizes the current evolution of the discipline: « Things need to change, and fast. It’s not acceptable that CFD or the wind tunnel determines everyone’s value: everything depends on aerodynamics. That’s how the spectacle is killed and the sport is devalued » the Italian believes, echoing recent statements by Luca di Montezemolo who claimed that, from a technological point of view, he didn’t like Formula One, estimating that aerodynamics now account for 90% of a car’s performance.

Regarding the possibility of witnessing another season where Fernando Alonso will not be able to compete for the top spots, Flavio Briatore adopts a philosophical stance: “We can also watch Hamilton. The problem is simple: at the moment, Formula One is a car competition rather than a driver competition. We all know that last year, only a Red Bull driver could win the championship title. Webber did not understand the Pirelli tires and therefore the title went to Vettel, but behind the wheel of the RB7, neither Fernando, nor Lewis, nor Button, or even Rosberg would have had any difficulty achieving the same results as the young German. But I still consider Sebastian to be a great driver.”

Similarly, the former team manager of the Renault team puts into perspective Adrian Newey’s influence within the Austrian team: We beat him [with Renault]! The merit of Red Bull is having built a perfect organization around Newey. Let’s be clear, Adrian is a very competent and capable designer. I would add that Red Bull was the first, along with Renault, to believe in CFD [editor’s note: Computational Fluid Dynamics] and we are seeing the results. You may have noticed that Lotus, formerly Renault, still designs a competitive car at the beginning of the season, but then they don’t know how to develop it or they don’t have enough money to keep up with other teams. In any case, last year they managed to secure podiums in the first races, and it will be the same with Lotus at the beginning of this 2012 season.

If he thinks Mercedes will improve, he still doesn’t see the Silver Arrows competing for the title this season and would rather see Ferrari make a remarkable comeback: « If they have really figured out how to solve the exhaust problem, I think we will see them fight at the front. Exhaust blowing is the only thing that cannot yet be analyzed in a wind tunnel. In Maranello, they are lagging behind others in this area, especially compared to Red Bull. But it’s also because they don’t have the most advanced CFD techniques. »

For the Italian, the men of Maranello are not to be questioned: « There is a purely technical aspect but also a logistical nature aspect. If you want to take twenty engineers to develop the best CFD, in Great Britain, you will find them, but in Italy, it’s more difficult. So Pat Fry can’t do anything about it, he just needs the time that he’s not given… » Briatore further assures that Fernando Alonso is not upset by the current situation: « He is aware, but he knows very well that Ferrari is doing everything possible to make him competitive. In Maranello, they are working hard and are confident they will quickly recover from a bad start. McLaren is always only 3km/h from Red Bull and yet they don’t manage to regain the slightest margin! The truth is that F1 is not easy. »

Flavio Briatore returns to his pet subject: Today, a car is no longer born under the pencil of a human being but is the result of complex computer calculations. It is nothing more than the expression of a high-tech pool restricted to England. There are ten teams there, each with 300 people, while in Italy, there are only two. Today, we have cars that could be remote-controlled without even needing a driver. We are moving away from the basic principle of car racing, which should be a sport, a spectacle, a fight.

For the Italian manager, it is necessary to put humans back at the heart of the discipline: « If there is a Grand Prix on a wet track, all calculations are skewed, and humans take precedence over machines. In these races, we see overtaking, contacts, and driving errors that enliven the race. In short, there is a spectacle, and the public is entertained. […] If I had to write the 2014 regulations, I would define an identical chassis for everyone with standard front and rear wings. I would ban CFD and the use of simulators, but maintain aerodynamic research in wind tunnels. Not twenty-four hours a day, but eight hours daily. And then I would revisit the ban on private testing: they should be regulated, not banned. How can new concepts be developed elsewhere than on the track? And young drivers, how can they get close to a Formula One steering wheel if they do not have the right to test with a single-seater? These do not seem to be proposals from Mars » the Italian asserts, once again echoing the speech by Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari.

Flavio Briatore is especially worried that a rift might develop between the public and a Formula One that has become obscure: « Is it reasonable for leading teams to have produced 70 different wings last year? It’s insane! But how many fans can appreciate and understand these subtleties? Specialized magazines like Autosport or Autosprint are now niche publications for readers who aren’t so young anymore. It’s becoming impossible to explain this heightened technology to the public, and young people are no longer passionate about this Formula One.

« We need to find the right compromise, also because there are currently teams that cannot be classified as F1 teams. How do they manage to compete against the top teams with few resources if they are forced to build their own single-seaters, wonders the former iconic manager of Benetton, not without giving his opinion on the issue of customer chassis: « The constraint of being a constructor makes no sense. It would be better to allow the use of a third car from a top team by a smaller team. Indeed, I would prefer to see ten Ferraris on the grid rather than two and a Marussia and who knows what else. The distribution of costs would allow putting drivers in the car who don’t have suitcases full of dollars but who have talent. » Obviously, Luca di Montezemolo has found an ally.