Briatore just visiting old F1 ‘friends’

Flavio Briatore has turned down an opportunity to confirm he is putting his formula one career back together.

In the wake of last year’s crashgate scandal, the 60-year-old has been back in the paddock on several occasions this year, and his visit to Ferrari last week added new fuel to the speculative fires.

But he told Germany’s Welt newspaper: “There are simply many people in F1 that I am still friends with — people I’ve known for many years and miss.”

The Italian slammed reports that his handiwork contributed to the recent Silverstone front wing saga, having reportedly advised Mark Webber to play hard with the Red Bull team.

“That is complete nonsense,” said Briatore.

“I have been working for ten years with Mark and it’s normal that we talked about his situation.  Mark is experienced enough to deal with it himself.”

But he does have some advice for Webber’s team bosses.

“They need to communicate better with the drivers,” said Briatore.  “They both need to know better why they are making this or that decision — it has to be obvious to them.

“If everyone understands what it is about then there will be no problems.  Red Bull has the best car and should win both titles, but like last year they could also lose them both.

“In my view that would be a disaster,” he added.

© RIF | GMM