Briatore revealed that he "missed Formula One" ahead of his return with Alpine
Having made his full-time comeback with Alpine last year, Flavio Briatore, who helped Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso secure multiple world championship titles, revealed that he "missed Formula One" during his absence from the sport.
Ahead of last year's Spanish Grand Prix, Alpine announced a key change to its organisation, confirming that Flavio Briatore would join the Enstone-based outfit as Executive Advisor.
The team had noted back then that Briatore's role would see him “predominantly focus on top level areas of the team”. His task would be to scout "top talents and providing insights on the driver market, challenging the existing project by assessing the current structure and advising on some strategic matters within the sport”.
Despite his involvement in the crash gate scandal in 2008, Briatore has been actively involved in Formula One in recent years as Fernando Alonso's manager. The Italian has frequently made appearances in the F1 paddock in attendance of the two-time world champion.
Ahead of the upcoming F1 season, the Verzuolo-born manager has revealed that he had missed Formula One before his return to the sport.
"I was never really away. I was an ambassador for the sport for Stefano Domenicali and worked with him on new races and marketing opportunities. And as Fernando Alonso's manager, I was always in touch with the scene.
"I was mainly involved in setting up my restaurant chain. That now runs almost by itself. I admit that I missed Formula 1. And then I had a conversation with Luca d e Meo. I've known him forever. I told him that it's very sad to see a former world champion team in this state."
Pushed on to reveal why two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso left the team, Briatore revealed that the Spaniard would have stayed at Enstone had the team management handled matters in a different way.
"We spoke without obligation about the last few years of Alpine. Fernando wanted to stay and sign the contract in Canada. Then Laurent Rossi suddenly disappeared. We could no longer reach him.
"So I started talking to Aston Martin. We even had an offer from Williams. I said to them: get your business right first. In the end, we signed with Aston because we couldn't find a solution with Alpine.
"The faults lay with the management. That's when I said to Luca: If I get the best contract, I'll do it. That's when I said to Luca: If I get full responsibility, I'll do it," Briatore was quoted by saying by Auto Motor und Sport.
