Flavio Briatore had led the Renault team since the days when they were Benetton. He was a maverick, not afraid to speak his mind. In a way he was almost too irresponsible to be the leader of an F1 team; too likely to follow his heart over his head; too unruly; too Italian. And yet people followed him. He was greatly respected within the paddock and despite his Latin flare, he was very clever and a friend of Bernie. This made him very successful.
Yet there was one decision which failed him. Nelson Piquet Jnr. Nelson had the unlucky fortune to be teamed up against arguably the best driver on the grid (Fernando Alonso) in seasons where the Renaults were never the best cars. 2008 wasn't as bad as 2009 but for a rookie it was still a tough car to start your F1 career in. Experience counted; Alonso hammered Piquet throughout 2008 and this is why the decision was made to let Nelson crash in Singapore to help their star driver to victory.
As we all know, Piquet blew the whistle on this scandal once he had been relieved of his position within the team and there is no doubt that the bad publicity which came along with this (not to mention '09s even poorer performances) led to Renault selling 75% of the team. On top of all this, Alonso moved to Ferrari and Briatore and (technical director) Pat Symonds were banned. Ironically, Briatore today got his ban overturned (although the FIA are set to appeal). Briatore has always claimed that he was an innocent party in the whole Crashgate affair but I, for one, am sceptical.
But where there is a car to be raced, there are people who will race it (just ask Ross Brawn and Jenson Button) and so when the team was purchased in December it was a good news story for the sport.
Eric Boullier headed up Gerard Lopez's driver management company which is how he knows the new owners, but he has racing pedigree too. He has worked with France's AIGP team and the DAMS GP2 team. More than this though, he is the opposite of the ageing Briatore; he is more clean cut and restrained and thusly personifies the youthful regeneration that the whole team is now undergoing. With new star Robert Kubica now firmly on board, all that remains is to find a driver for the second seat. Boullier has claimed that "the second driver must score points and challenge Kubica" and although some people have linked young gun Bertrand Baguette (World Series by Renault champion) to the drive, I personally feel that a driver with more experience would be more likely to score the necessary points.
Who do we know who is out of contract, is possibly the safest pair of hands on the grid, gets on with Kubica and is almost as fast as him too? Don't be surprised if a certain Nick Heidfeld turns up at Renault's Enstone base sometime soon (especially as the Sauber drive seems certain to go to either Fisichella or De La Rosa).
No comments:
Post a Comment