Flavio Briatore has revealed the truth behind a longstanding rumour that has followed Fernando Alonso during his long tenure in Formula 1.
Alonso is one of F1’s most iconic personalities, driving for McLaren, Ferrari, Renault (managed by Briatore), to likely seeing out his career at Aston Martin.
Debuting in 2001, the two-time champion has not been shy of controversy, often outspoken and honest in his team radio post-race comments, ruffling the feathers of other drivers.
This has sometimes extended to within his teams, gaining a reputation for challenging engineers, sometimes to the detriment of morale and overall progress.
His now infamous “GP2 engine” rebuke of the Honda engine at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix remains one of his most defining moments in F1, and to many, confirms his reputation.
However, Alpine Executive Team Advisor Briatore, who managed Alonso during his title-winning years, rubbished these suggestions but hinted at his legendary competitiveness.
“Sometimes people put out in the news that Fernando was difficult to manage,” Briatore told ESPN.
“But this is a lot of rubbish, really. I am completely upset whenever I hear this.
“Fernando is always a team-mate. He’s always making everyone work together. The demonstration is now at Aston Martin.
“The car is not competitive, but he’s always there, pushing,” Briatore said of Alonso’s desire and hunger to win.
“Everyone knows what they need. He’s like a Rottweiler. He’s there all the time.
“You go in one place, and the Rottweiler bites you all the time. That’s Fernando. That’s how he wants to win.”
Alonso reveals motivation in twilight years of racing career
Alonso also revealed how he maintains his desire for racing, as he approaches the final few years of his F1 career, now aged 44, confirming his excitement ahead of 2026.
“Let’s say that if we are competitive, there is more chance that I stop. If we are not competitive, it will be very hard to give up without trying again,” he addressed.
“In my case, driving in the last couple of years of my career, obviously, I want to taste the success of the Aston Martin project.
“But I know that everything takes a little bit of time to glue all the pieces together.
“Aston Martin fighting for and winning the World Championship is more or less guaranteed in the future – we have everything needed to fight for a World Championship.
“Then, to execute the job and to win it, you need some external factors as well, you need a little help from your competitors, you need a little bit of luck.”
READ MORE – How Fernando Alonso views his 12-year F1 victory drought
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