Fresh F1

Flavio Briatore has won as may championships as a team boss as Michael Schumacher has as a driver - a total of seven.

“I always respect my driver’s decisions. When Fernando chose to change teams, I specifically wanted Heikki to replace him.”

“Fernando’s departure was a big loss. He always said what he wanted to and could lift the team. We lost certain benefits. But no one knows yet how good Heikki is. I think that he would have been ready [for F1] even in 2002, and I believe that he is as talented as Fernando. I just fought so he wouldn’t arrive in F1 too soon.”

“Now is the right time. We intensively monitored Heikki last year and we know that he is more than ready to drive in F1 races.”

“It’s better to take young talent than an experienced one who hasn’t won anything. I believe that a young driver who is talented enough can win races immediately and even a World Drivers’ Championship (WDC). If Fernando had a better engine in 2003, I can’t see a reason why he wouldn’t have been able to win the WDC as early as then.”

Briatore thinks this season will be extremely close.

“At least six drivers will compete for the WDC. If someone manages to win 4-5 races, he is definitely strong in the battle for the WDC.”

Kovalainen isn’t the first Finnish driver to drive in Flavio’s team. 1994 Benetton hired JJ Lehto, but Flavio wasn’t able to make history with him.We asked for Briatore to compare Lehto and Kovalainen, but he admitted it would be impossible.

“I took JJ as an great promise, but then he had the awful crash in a Silverstone test and when he tried to come back at Imola, Ayrton Senna died at the same race. JJ never got a [real] chance and he really didn’t manage to race for us.”

“Heikki has been with us for five years. I know him better than someone who comes to the team like a tourist from Finland. We are very happy how Heikki works.”

“Modern F1 is based on brands, and Heikki is a new brand. If we give him the right car, he will win.” concluded Briatore.

Briatore is more of a team manager than a manager for Kovalainen.

“We are in touch with Flavio almost every day , but we talk about testing. He likes to follow it very intensively. We talk about managing things, when it is time for [signing] some contracts. I consider Matthew and Bruno Michel to be my managers more than Flavio, because they run the Flavio’s management office.” said Heikki Kovalainen.

Source: Turun Sanomat (in Finnish), translated by Warwick.

~ by Wiz Kid on March 14, 2007.