http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33053
Flavio is a cool customer. He is good with words and knows how to make the most of his time in the spotlight. Whenever I think of Flavio I always remember.... Every dog has his day!
I know many people on here don't like Flavio. Personally I don't have an opinion, but I'd say that he at least deserves some credit: He single handedly built the 2 times WC winning Benetton team and now turned Renault into a winning combination. He also had the smarts to grab a young MS and put him under his wings. He might be a flamboyant narcist, but he sure knows what he is doing.
I don't get his statement that if they won all the time they'd be as unpopular as Ferrari. WTF ??? Flavio could only dream about being as successful and as 'unpopular' as Ferrari. Doesn't he get sick of all red shirts and Ferrari flags at the circuits race after race ? Ya, they're unpopular all right. I do agree with his statement that it's becoming a championship of tires but I don't agree that F1 needs only 1 tire. I think the FIA just needs to stop changing tire rules basically every year.
As much as there a bunch of fans jumping onto the red bandwaggon waving the flags there are also big numbers of traditional F1 followers who got really tired of Ferrari's dominance in the last few years. Since racing in F1 is at the end of the day a marketing tool for the car manufacturers, they have an interest in keeping the audience and the fans happy. Total dominance can backfire and that's what Flavio is talking about. Obviously he is also a spin doctor just preparing Renault's CEOs of the potential situation that a Renault will not finish a race. I guess the shock of France 2004 still hurts.
Ummm, it's possible to the most popular and most unpopular team at the same time. Ask people what their most favorite team is: Ferrari gets 40% of the votes. Ask people what their least favorite team is: Ferrari gets 40% of the votes. They achieve the plurality both times. FYI, those percentages are made up.
Would be interesting to see how important the F1 Scuderia really is in terms of Ferrari sales. Of all the owners I know personally only a few really care about what's going on in F1, regardless of whether they win or loose. And if you think about the craze of the late eighties and the insane Ferrari road car prices, that all happened within the infamous 21 year drought.