Awkwardness at its peak. Mumbling, snapping, and sneering at journalists. Flavio Briatore gave his first press conference as team boss of Alpine in Barcelona on Friday. It was a performance not to be forgotten quickly.
The Friday press conference with the team bosses is usually a formality in Formula 1. Just after the first free practice, the usual faces appear. “How did it go in the first practice?” “Reasonable, but there is still work to be done.” Predictable answers, hardly any news. Certainly not in the final weekend of a series of three Grands Prix, like this weekend in Barcelona.
That seems to be the case now too. On the program are Pirelli boss Mario Isola, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, and Flavio Briatore, the man who was appointed as team boss of Alpine earlier this month. But as soon as the microphones turn on, nothing could be further from the truth.
Briatore makes his entrance like an old rock star. Blue glasses, well-groomed beard, a watch that costs more than a Formula 2 car. Even before the kickoff, he jokes around with Horner. It almost becomes a scuffle. The presenter intervenes. “Please guys,” he says dryly. The gentlemen of 51 and 75 can take their seats. Time to start.
The show starts even before a serious question is asked. The presenter of Formula 1, Tom Clarkson, introduces Briatore as someone who has now been with Alpine for a year. Briatore wants nothing to do with that. “It’s less than that,” he grumbles with his smoky voice. “Ten months. I always keep a close eye on my paychecks. And I only got ten of them.” The room laughs. The tone is set.
‘What are you talking about? Next question!’
From the first real question, it is clear that Briatore is not taking his return subtly. His English is unchanged crooked. He mumbles, repeats himself, speaks inaudibly and without direction. Presenter Clarkson feels increasingly compelled to repeat what Briatore may have meant with a slightly furrowed brow.
“Do I understand correctly that you are saying that…”, he tries. The rest of the room looks at each other laughing. Because nobody knows for sure what he actually said. Not even Horner. “To be honest, I have no idea what Flavio is mumbling,” he says with a grin. The room is laughing again.
For journalists, it is a minefield. A German reporter asks if Alpine is interested in Mick Schumacher. Briatore looks up as if he is being asked about an unknown virus. “What are you talking about?” he grumbles. And: “What am I supposed to do with this? Next question!” Horner tries to keep a straight face, but has to turn away from laughing.
The pace is slow meanwhile. Briatore takes a long time for every half sentence, which makes Clarkson visibly struggle to keep the program on schedule. The dozens of journalists present do not seem to mind. It is a brilliant performance in the often predictable Formula 1 world.
Isola does not care about that. The Pirelli boss sits next to him, but is hardly addressed. He smiles politely, but does not join in the witty remarks and mutual taunts between Horner and Briatore. As if he is on a different channel.
Then a rumor comes up that has been circulating in German media in recent days: has Horner been approached as a possible team boss of Ferrari? It is the kind of question that is usually politely dismissed. But Horner, still amused by the company next to him, seizes his chance. “My Italian is even worse than Flavio’s English,” he says. “So I wouldn’t know how that would work.”
The atmosphere remains playful, but the real news remains absent. Briatore says nothing concrete about the future of his much-discussed driver Franco Colapinto. He also remains vague about the plans with Alpine.
“We need to look at everything. Structure. People. Step by step,” it sounds. Or something like that. Clarkson nods cautiously, repeats what he thinks Briatore means for good measure, and then moves on to the next question.
A moment later, something that seems like conviction sounds. “If I hadn’t believed in this project of Alpine, I wouldn’t be sitting here in this sweltering heat,” says Briatore. “Then I would probably be lying somewhere on the beach with a cola in my hand.”
It is clear that Briatore sees himself as the protagonist again. If someone wants a scene, he delivers it with ease. Whether you ask for it or not. Horner is even considering adopting his style. “Maybe I should start using the Flavio method for every difficult question from now on,” he says. “Just shout: I don’t feel like answering. Next question.”
The Red Bull boss says it as a joke, but you can see him thinking: maybe the Flavio method is not so crazy after all. Horner: “We missed you, Flavio. It was far too boring without you in recent years.”