''I had never seen a race before and then won seven world titles''

8 January 2021 at 08:34

Last update 8 January 2021 at 10:35

GPblog.com

Davide Brivio will almost certainly take up the role of CEO of the Alpine F1 Team. The question is whether he knows enough about Formula 1 to fulfil this role, but he will receive support from his Italian predecessor.

Changes at Renault

Management changes are underway at Renault, which will be operating in Formula 1 under the name of Alpine in 2021. Marcin Budkowski has taken over the role of President of Renault from Jerome Stoll and Davide Brivio will be taken away from Suzuki to become CEO of Alpine. Cyril Abiteboul will have to make way completely, because Budkowski will take over his role as team boss.

On Thursday we made the comparison with the period at Renault under Flavio Briatore and he is also the one supporting his compatriot. ''I didn't know anything when I got there. I had never seen a race before and then won seven world titles," said the flamboyant Italian to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Lack of experience

Briatore was indeed enormously successful as manager of Renault and Benetton and he thinks Brivio will also do well at Alpine.''Renault will have had good reasons to hire him and his inexperience will not be a problem. In the end it's about managing people and in a couple of months he'll know what to do.

''That won't be a problem, it never was for me. Brivio comes into a team that is growing and will have an exceptional driver with Fernando Alonso and that is what ultimately determines: Performance. In the end it's all about whether you have a car that can drive fast."