Flavio Briatore to Ferrari? Controversial F1 legend on 'the lover everyone would love to have'

Alpine, Briatore, Ferrari, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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Briatore to Ferrari? Controversial F1 legend on 'the lover everyone would love to have'

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Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Thursday 24 September 2026 18:57

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Flavio Briatore at Ferrari - two Italian F1 institutions finally brought together. Can you imagine the storylines?

Running the show at Maranello is every self-respecting Italian motor racing fan's dream, and the 76-year-old Briatore is clearly no different.

Right now the Scuderia are struggling again after a very positive first half of the 2026 season which saw their SF-26 car on an upward curve and Lewis Hamilton apparently in contention for a record eighth world title.

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Since Silverstone in early July things have started to unravel though, with subpar performance on track and acrimony off it producing storm clouds over Maranello.

Now Ferrari heads to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend with very little chance of claiming a Constructors' title or crowning a Drivers' champion in 2026. It's been too long - the drought is now 18 years - since the last title celebration for the sport's most iconic brand.

As those recurring failings begin to float to the surface once again, the pressure is now very much on current team principal Fred Vasseur.

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Flavio to Ferrari, would he consider it?

While much of the speculation about successors has landed on former Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Ferrari's Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti Antonello Coletta, what about Briatore as a leftfield option?

We say leftfield because perhaps it is difficult to imagine Ferrari and Briatore together given the controversy the current Alpine boss has garnered in the past.

Remember the Italian was once given a lifetime ban from the sport after the 'Crashgate' scandal of 2008. A ruling which was overturned by a court two years later.

Few though can claim Briatore does not have the ability to galvanise even the stalest of operations, he's a proven championship winner and appears to have Alpine heading in the right direction in 2026.

The man himself was asked about a role at Ferrari, and specifically whether he would be interested, in an in-depth interview with Italian outlet Corriere della Sera this week.

"It's too late. Even though Ferrari is the lover everyone would love to have," began Briatore.

"But I've never been close to Maranello; I've always been on the other side of the fence."

Briatore is also brutally honest when asked to speak about what Ferrari need to do to win on a consistent basis.

"Recipes are made when you know the patient. You have to understand the disease to try to intervene.

"Meanwhile, Vasseur's work must be respected; mistakes happen in every team. But a winning Ferrari is an asset for the entire F1, we all root for that Prancing Horse."

Hamilton vs Leclerc, the acrimony and the analysis

While Ferrari have struggled with performance in recent races, the relationship between the team's drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc has been very much in the spotlight.

Their early contact during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza led to much controversy, with Hamilton bemoaning the lack of rules of engagement for the pair.

Briatore said: "They're a quarrelsome pairing, from what I know. Managing two great drivers isn't easy.

"You have to make everyone understand that the car belongs to the team. It requires responsibility and focus.

"I'd never want to see one of my drivers push the other out."

Hamilton and Leclerc are 'a quarrelsome pairing' says Briatore.

Ferrari's missing ingredient

It is not like Ferrari are always way off the pace, miles away from challenging for championships. In F1 the margins are small and the likes of Mercedes are not easy foes to defeat. A point Briatore was quick to make.

"Ferrari is competitive, but there's always something missing. Winning a World Championship is complicated, especially because there are others..."

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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