The Christian Horner meeting which revealed stark F1 change to Flavio Briatore

Flavio Briatore is readjusting to life in F1 and says he’s discovered something that has changed dramatically over the years.

Briatore is back within the fold at Alpine, with Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo appointing him as executive advisor to conduct moves to help transform the fortunes of the Enstone-based squad, which will be led by new team boss Oliver Oakes in the second half of the season.

Eddie Jordan: Friendships don’t happen anymore with team bosses

Appearing alongside former Jordan F1 team boss Eddie Jordan on the Formula For Success podcast, Flavio Briatore – whose tenure as an F1 team boss with Benetton and Renault during the 1990s and 2000s largely overlapped with Jordan’s – the pair reminisced on some of the times shared together on the grid as rivals near the front of F1’s midfield and, occasionally, fighting for wins and titles.

Jordan made the point that, in stark contrast to today, the team bosses were much more willing to be friends with each other.

“One of the first times that I met Flavio, it was with Michael Flatley from Riverdance, I think it was Naomi [Campbell] and Flavio, Bernie [Ecclestone] came with Slavica [Ecclestone’s ex-wife], we had Pierce Brosnan, and Helena Christensen,” Jordan said.

“We went to a dance, wherever it was, and we went back and had dinner together. I mean, those things don’t happen anymore with team principals.

“When people ask me what was the best time in my life, is it now with Formula 1? I have to say the friendships that I had in the times of the 1990s far surpass what I can see is happening at the moment.”

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Flavio Briatore reveals chat with Christian Horner

Briatore, who has only recently returned to the F1 paddock after his time at Renault came to an abrupt end in 2009 when he was issued a ban from the sport for his role in the ‘Crashgate’ scandal, said he can see stark differences in how the F1 paddock personnel interact with each other compared to when he was a prominent team leader.

Speaking about the recent Belgian Grand Prix, Briatore revealed how Alpine ‘s roll-out of its brand-new motorhome hospitality unit led to a catch-up with Christian Horner which led to an astonishing admission from the Red Bull team boss.

“We had the new motorhome at Spa,” Briatore said.

“It’s called the Alpine motorhome, Alpine as in the mountains, kind of like a chalet, done by Phillippe Starck.

“Everybody was curious because it’s looking completely different inside. It’s like you are really there in Cheval or somewhere, so everyone was curious.

“So Christian called me, asking me ‘Flavio, can I come and see your motorhome?’

“I told him ‘Absolutely’, and we spent 20 or 30 minutes together. We had a coffee, and Christian told me it was the first time in many years he had seen another motorhome in Formula 1.”

Briatore revealed how he and Jordan, as well as other 1990s F1 team bosses, would constantly dip in and out of each other’s paddock areas, and how social events were organised together.

“So basically, at the time with Eddie, I’d go to his motorhome, and he’d come in my motorhome. We’d go to the motorhome of Ferrari.” he said.

“Excluding Ron Dennis [then-McLaren team boss], I’d never go to the motorhome of Ron Dennis – the team principals had a super relationship. I remember we had the party at Maranello with Luca [di Montezemelo – Ferrari chairman]. We had lunch and it was much more friendly the situations between team principals.

“Now, it’s completely different. We were always fighting together because we wanted to win, we wanted to have a better car, and we wanted to have everything.

“But I believe it was more human, I don’t know, we were much more human respect and what the people are looking at now is only technical, only business, only this and that.

“I believe we can come back to this friendly situation, Stefano [Domenicali -F1 CEO] is doing the best because Stefano tries all the time to organise dinner and meetings with the people, but the feeling is different.

“We had a joke, we spent time together – holiday, no holiday. Now I believe it’s completely different. I don’t know if it’s better or worse, but it is different.”

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