Italian businessman and former Renault Formula One managing director Flavio Briatore has said that a return to Scuderia Ferrari should not be ruled out for Fernando Alonso, ahead of the 2018 F1 season. The former Renault boss was banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the FIA, although this ban was later overturned by a French Tribunal de Grande Instance, and now continues to oversee Alonso’s career in Formula 1.
Flavio Briatore was present in Azerbaijan for the race which took place last weekend, and amid rumours regarding Fernando Alonso’s next destination as he was seen having dinner with Mercedes’s officials Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda. However, the Italian businessman admitted that Scuderia Ferrari is also a possibility for the 2018 championship, despite the fact that the Spanish driver appeared to burn the bridge back to Maranello when he left three years ago:
“He always got along with everyone and only had problems with Mattiacci.” – Flavio Briatore said, referring to the now-departed former Ferrari boss – “In this life you cannot exclude anything. Fernando is a bit like Senna, who had no problem with any team – he only needs a car capable of winning and in Formula 1 there are only two teams racing to win – Ferrari and Mercedes. McLaren can only be a top team if they change engines. We will see. Red Bull and Force India can have good races, as we saw in Baku.” – Flavio Briatore added, as reported by Italian radio Rai on Wednesday.
