Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson: The young drivers in Formula 1 have been on everyone’s lips lately – and have been highly praised in some cases. However, the rain chaos in Brazil pushed some of the highly praised youngsters to their limits. Alpine consultant Flavio Briatore took this as an opportunity to verbally attack the rookies.
After the Brazilian Grand Prix, Flavio Briatore actually had no reason to complain – on the contrary.
The 74-year-old, who has been working as a special advisor to the Alpine F1 racing team since the summer, was able to celebrate two top results for his team on Sunday. Esteban Ocon finished second behind race winner Max Verstappen in the rain in Sao Paulo. Pierre Gasly, the second Alpine pilot, also landed sensationally on the podium in third place.
However, Briatore also witnessed numerous accidents and interruptions during the chaos weekend in Brazil. Franco Colapinto alone wrecked his Williams twice on Sunday – in the postponed qualifying and later in the race. Haas replacement driver Ollie Bearman also came off the track during the race. However, the 19-year-old was able to bring his car to the finish line in twelfth place.
Flavio Briatore: “Experience still counts for a lot in Formula 1”
The mistakes made by the Formula 1 rookies were apparently a thorn in Briatore’s side. “The less experienced drivers, who until recently were considered phenomena, have shown that experience still counts for a lot in Formula 1,” said Michael Schumacher’s former team boss after the race.
It initially remained unclear who Briatore’s verbal attack was specifically directed at and what the motivation behind it was. However, Briatore’s rookie thesis is unlikely to stand up to closer scrutiny – and not just because Racing Bulls youngster Lawson finished ninth in the race and scored two championship points.
With Ferrari star Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso and Williams driver Alexander Albon, even more established drivers eventually came off the track between qualifying and the race. Lando Norris made several mistakes that possibly cost him his chance of winning the world title.
At the latest when Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll’s strange retirement in the introductory lap, the experience factor no longer plays a role: The Canadian has 163 Grand Prix starts…
Source: www.sport.de
