Flavio Briatore: “This hybrid engine is pure and simple bullshit”

Flavio Briatore breaks his silence during a long interview, to be found in issue 2141 ofAUTOHebdo, available in digital version on all platforms and on newsstands. The former main team of Renault F1 in the 2000s, delivers a corrosive analysis of the Formula 1 current.

“This hybrid engine is pure and simple bullshit”, asserts the 67-year-old Italian about the V6 Turbo/hybrid, introduced in 2014. “We are constantly talking about electricity, but batteries also pollute enormously. The Federation (International Automobile) has done nothing again. These engines broke F1. (…) Not content with producing no noise, these motors are horribly expensive. »

Flavio Briatore does not regret leaving F1, and would like the discipline to be inspired by MotoGP, a sport where penalties are rarer. « Max Verstappen is the new star of F1. He is doing very well, but we are trying to “kill” him. This is completely crazy. F1 has become too controlled. It must let the pilots fight more. Motorcycle riders don't joke. They fight wheel to wheel at 300 km/h. And more and more people are following.”, believes the Italian.

Also discover his opinion on the career of Fernando Alonso in McLaren, his ouster from F1 following Singaporegate as well as his new life as a businessman in issue 2141 of AUTOHebdo, available in digital version on all platforms and on newsstands.