Jan.18 (GMM) After having his motor racing ban overturned, Flavio Briatore has vowed to sue F1’s governing body for loss of income.
Even though the FIA recently said Briatore-managed drivers will be granted superlicenses for 2010, the former Renault boss revealed that Heikki Kovalainen and Lucas di Grassi ended their ties with the Italian after the crashgate scandal.
“We lost Alonso, we lost Kovalainen, we lost several drivers,” Briatore, who was initially banned by the FIA from having any involvement in motor racing, told the Daily Telegraph.
“We will sue the FIA for the money we lost,” said the 59-year-old.
At Ferrari’s winter media event last week, Spaniard Alonso refused to confirm that he has left Briatore’s management stable.
“I don’t want to answer,” Italy’s La Stampa quotes him as saying. “Flavio is a friend and I wish him all the best for the birth of his son.”
AS newspaper in Spain, meanwhile, quotes Alonso as saying Briatore remains “a very important person for me”.
Briatore, closely involved with the London football club Queens Park Rangers, said in an interview with the Daily Mirror that his F1 career is over.
“I will never manage another team in formula one in my life, this is sure, but I have got my dignity back which is important after 20 years in the sport,” he said after winning the French legal action against his ban.
