Managing Director Benetton Formula Limited 


Flavio Briatore, the progressive and imaginative managing
director of the Mild Seven Benetton Renault team, guided
the team to their first world championship in 1994 and this
year will be aiming to emulate that success by claiming
both the drivers' and constructors' titles. 

The team's new partnership with Renault and the reliance
inspired by Michael Schumacher's triumph in the drivers'
championship will help Benetton further establish their
reputation as one of the leading teams in the championship,
according to Briatore. 

"The big thing in all sport and in all competition is
confidence." said Briatore, whose innovative management has
been the key to the team's rapid progress in recent years.
"We won the drivers' championship last year thanks to
Michael's brilliant driving, but also to the total
excellence of the team. 

"So this year, with that confidence and with the help of
Renault, I am sure we can go for both championships again.
We want to win both and I believe it is a realistic target.
Last year, the team performance was very good - we were
quick in all the tyre stops and won some races in the
pit-lane - and our car finished 95 per cent of the races.
"That is a fantastic record and shows how good the car and
the team are. This year, we can progress again I am sure of
it." 

Briatore will this year be building on the success of 1994
when, five years after joining the team, he was able to see
the success of his work in pioneering an entirely unique
style of thinking about Formula One. His new philosophies,
global outlook and firmly-held view that Formula One is as
much about communications, images and lifestyle as
technology or tradition which all contributed to the
team's and Schumacher's success. But they represent only a
part of his overall view. Briatore lives for the future
with Benetton, placing his faith in youth, strength and
excitement and a constant search for ways of improvement. 

"This year our ambitions are clear," he said. "We want to
try and win both championships. I believe that with the
Renault engine we can. I have been very impressed with the
fantastic progress of our partnership with Renault already. 

"Like us, they are working for the future. They are
well-invested, they have very good people and they have
stability. I feel our B195 with a Renauit engine and our
drivers will be a very difficult package to beat this year.
It is a combination of champions." 

Briatore hopes 1995 will see a continuous and virtually
seamless development of the Benetton team with very few
outward changes, other than to the car. "Apart from the car
and the engine, our only other changes will be that we have
the numbers one and two this year," he said. 

"We are a young team. We are still learning and last year
we gained a lot of experience. We will be much stronger
now. That experience and the confidence of knowing we can
be champions will be a big help for everyone in every part
of the team." 

Italian-born Flavio Briatore lives in London. He leads a
hectic working schedule of ten hours a day and relaxes by
working out at a gym, playing tennis, and spending short
holidays in the sun whenever possible. 


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Source: http://www.jtnet.ad.jp/WWW/MILDSEVEN/F1/