Briatore to Ferrari? Controversial F1 legend on 'the lover everyone would love to have'

Ferrari's 2026 season has unravelled since Silverstone, leaving little chance of a Constructors' or Drivers' title and extending the team's 18-year drought, which has put pressure on team principal Fred Vasseur. Amid speculation about potential successors including Christian Horner and Antonello Coletta, Flavio Briatore has been floated as a leftfield candidate given his championship pedigree and current work reviving Alpine, despite his controversial past including the 2008 "Crashgate" ban later overturned. Asked directly by Corriere della Sera about interest in a Ferrari role, the 76-year-old said it was "too late," calling Ferrari "the lover everyone would love to have" but noting he has always been "on the other side of the fence," while declining to prescribe fixes without understanding the team's problems in depth.