Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman and motorsport executive who serves as Executive Advisor and de facto team principal of the BWT Alpine F1 Team. He was born on 12 April 1950 in Verzuolo, Piedmont, Italy, the son of school teachers, and worked variously as a ski instructor, restaurant manager and insurance salesman before entering business. ¹

Briatore is one of the most successful and controversial figures in modern F1: as boss of the Enstone-based team in its Benetton and Renault guises, he won three Constructors' Championships and four Drivers' Championships, before his first F1 career ended in scandal. ¹

“The partnership established Briatore's reputation as a star-maker able to identify and back the right driver.”

From Benetton retail to Formula 1

Briatore met Luciano Benetton in Milan and, when the clothing brand expanded into the United States from 1979, he led its American operations, building hundreds of stores and making his fortune. He took commercial control of the Benetton F1 team in 1989 and full control by 1991 — remarkable for a man who admitted he had barely seen a Formula 1 car before taking charge. He ran the team as a commercial operator rather than an engineer, prizing results and salesmanship over technical orthodoxy. ¹³

Benetton titles with Schumacher

Under Briatore, Benetton built its car around a young Michael Schumacher, who won the 1994 and 1995 Drivers' Championships, with the team taking the 1995 Constructors' title. The partnership established Briatore's reputation as a star-maker able to identify and back the right driver. ¹

Renault titles with Alonso

When Renault took over Benetton, Briatore returned as managing director. He signed and nurtured Fernando Alonso, who delivered Renault back-to-back Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in 2005 and 2006, ending Ferrari and Schumacher's dominance. ¹

Crashgate and the FIA ban

Briatore's first F1 career ended after the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix 'Crashgate' scandal, in which Renault ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash deliberately so Alonso could win. The FIA imposed a lifetime ban in 2009, but a French court overturned it on 5 January 2010, awarding him compensation and questioning the governing body's due process. ¹ Outside F1 he founded the Billionaire luxury nightclub and lifestyle brand and served as chairman of Queens Park Rangers football club, building a public profile well beyond motorsport. ¹

Return to Alpine

Briatore returned to the Enstone team — now Alpine — in 2024. On 21 June 2024 he was appointed Executive Advisor for the Formula 1 division by Renault Group, focusing on drivers, team structure and strategy. Although employed by the parent Renault company rather than the race team, reporting described him as having been given full scope over hiring and firing — 'team boss in all but name.' ¹² After team principal Oliver Oakes resigned on 6 May 2025, Briatore took over day-to-day leadership as de facto team principal. He is not the official principal because he is not an Alpine employee and does not hold the requisite FIA superlicence for the role, which he has dismissed as 'a detail.' ¹

Restructuring and the Mercedes switch

Working alongside Managing Director Steve Nielsen, Briatore oversaw a sweeping restructuring of Enstone, a workforce reduction, and the strategic decision to drop Renault's in-house power unit in favour of Mercedes customer engines from 2026 — arguing the team needed 'the same tools as the others' to win. He also rebuilt the technical and operational leadership, with David Sanchez as Executive Technical Director and Dave Greenwood as Racing Director, and recalled the experienced Nielsen to steady day-to-day operations. ¹²⁶

The A526 and the 2026 turnaround

Briatore unveiled the Mercedes-powered A526 at a high-profile launch aboard the MSC World Europa cruise ship in Barcelona in January 2026, declaring heightened expectations after a 2025 in which Alpine had finished last with just 22 points. ⁷ The early results vindicated the gamble: the team scored in the opening rounds and climbed to fifth in the constructors' championship, already exceeding its entire 2025 points haul within a handful of races, with Briatore describing the car as 'in the mix' as the fourth-quickest on the grid. ⁶

Ambitions and management style

Briatore is a deal-maker and motivator rather than an engineer, governing through driver choices, commercial relationships and force of personality. He has set aggressive targets, declaring 'in 2026, we can win races, I guarantee it, and in 2027, we want to be title contenders,' and promising that the 2026 season 'will be fantastic.' His confidence and willingness to make ruthless decisions are central to how Alpine now operates. ⁴⁵

Why he matters

Why it matters: Briatore is the single most powerful figure at Enstone, controlling hiring, the driver line-up, the engine strategy and the team's public messaging even without the formal title of team principal. His two championship eras give him unusual authority inside Renault Group, and the team's recovery is being run explicitly to his playbook — though Crashgate remains a permanent asterisk on his record. ¹⁴

Bottom line

Briatore is a team-builder with two championship eras to his name and one of the sport's biggest scandals on his record. In his mid-seventies he is once again the dominant force at Enstone, charged with converting the Mercedes-powered reset into the race wins and title challenge he has publicly guaranteed. ¹⁴