Background and career
Flavio Briatore (Italian: [ˈflaːvjo bri.aˈtoːre]; born 12 April 1950) is an Italian businessman, who serves as executive adviser and de facto team principal of Alpine in Formula One. As the longtime team principal of the colloquially known "Team Enstone" (Benetton Formula / Renault F1 Team), Briatore led the team to three World Constructors' Championship and four World Drivers' Championship victories. However, he was dogged by allegations of cheating, including the 1994 "Launch Control" controversy and the 2007 "Spygate" affair, although in both cases his teams escaped penalties. He was forced out of Renault and received a lifetime ban from F1 after the 2008 "Crashgate" scandal, although a French court subsequently overturned the ban. Fifteen years later, he returned to the Enstone team, which currently operates as Alpine F1. Briatore started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. He was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison sentences, though the convictions were later extinguished by an amnesty. He spent several years as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands and the United States, where he set up several United Colors of Benetton franchises, paving the way for his role at Benetton's F1 team. From 2007 to 2011, he was part-owner and chairman of English association football team Queens Park Rangers.
Briatore was born in Verzuolo near Cuneo in the Maritime Alps. His parents were school teachers. After twice failing public (state) school, he attended Fassino di Busca, a private (independent) school, receiving a diploma with the lowest grades in Land Surveying.
Briatore found early work as a ski instructor and restaurant manager. He opened a restaurant named Tribüla, which was his own nickname. (The term Tribüla refers to "a restless character who will do almost anything to get what he wants." Briatore admitted that the name fit him well.) The restaurant was unsuccessful and had to close due to excessive debt. In the 1970s, Briatore moved to Cuneo and became an assistant to businessman Attilio Dutto, owner of the Paramatti Vernici paint company. Dutto was killed on 21 March 1979 in a car bomb attack by an unknown perpetrator. Briatore then moved to Milan and worked for Finanziaria Generale Italia at the Italian stock exchange. While working in Milan, Briatore met Luciano Benetton, founder of the Benetton clothing company. When Benetton expanded to the United States in 1979, he appointed Briatore to lead the group's American operations.
In the 1980s, Briatore was convicted of multiple counts of fraud and received two prison sentences. In 1984, a court in Bergamo found him guilty of fraud arising from the collapse of Milan's Compagnia Generale Industriale. It sentenced him to a prison term of one year and six months (reduced to one year on appeal), as well as a fine. In 1986, a court in Milan found Briatore guilty of fraud and conspiracy; he helped a ring of confidence tricksters that recruited gamblers to play rigged card games. He received a three-year sentence (reduced to one year and two months on appeal). To avoid imprisonment, Briatore fled the country and lived as a fugitive in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands. He did not return to the EU until his convictions were extinguished by amnesty. In 2010, a Turin court ordered Briatore rehabilitated, which by Italian Criminal Code results in the extinction "of any criminal effect of the conviction". In 1999, the Corriere della Sera reported that Briatore had been arrested in Nairobi on suspicion of fraud relating to real estate in Kenya. Briatore successfully sued the newspaper for libel and received compensation.
During his exile, Briatore continued working for Benetton. By 1989, there were 800 Benetton stores in the United States, which was attributed to Benetton and Briatore's franchising methods. Briatore became very wealthy, as he received a cut of every franchising agreement. Briatore also opened some Benetton stores in the Virgin Islands. However, store operators complained that Benetton sold too many franchises, which created excessive competition.
In 1985, the Benetton family purchased Formula One team Toleman Motorsport, which it then renamed to Benetton Formula. At first, Briatore (who was not interested in auto racing) was not involved with the team. He did not attend a race until the 1988 Australian Grand Prix, the final race of the season. However, in 1989, the Benetton family reassigned him to manage the team's commercial operations. He assumed full control of the team in 1991, and eventually acquired a 30% personal stake in the team. Under Briatore's leadership, "the rebel F1 team became a part of the establishment" and won three world championships. The Independent wrote that Briatore's "cut-throat tactics" and commercial savvy "helped [] push F1 towards its current hyper-commercial state." Briatore aggressively brainstormed ideas to improve the level of competition in Formula One, including starting races in reverse grid position after qualifying and sending out a pace car to artificially restrain front-runners who were more than 12 seconds in front. However, Briatore angered members of the Formula One establishment, in part for his vocal opposition to the upward trend of costs in Formula One. In 1993, he used his leverage to force the then-dominant Williams team to agree to limits on engine changes and qualifying procedures. Williams had blown a deadline to file its entry paperwork for the 1993 season, and Briatore (all team principals had a veto) refused to let Williams compete in 1993 until Frank Williams "listen[ed] to [him]" on costs. The move was deemed "grossly unsporting" at the time, but Briatore's position ultimately won out. Led by Alain Prost, Williams won a double world championship that year.
