(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
Mercedes AMG F1 Team Non Executive chairman Niki Lauda believes that Formula One should trust commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone to make the necessary changes to the sport and not rely on help from former F1 team boss Flavio Briatore. Ecclestone revealed in Hungary that he will host a number of summit meetings to help find ways to boost Formula One's popularity.i
Ecclestone wants to bring former Renault boss Flavio Briatore back into the fold to help find ways to improve the show. Ecclestone and Briatore were former investors in Football club Queens Park Rangers before Briatore sold his shareholding to Ecclestone. However Ecclestone is no longer involved in the club after current owner Tony Fernandes, the former owner of the Caterham F1 Team bought the Premier League team in 2011.
Briatore hasn't been involved in Formula One since he and Pat Symonds were banned from the sport for their role in the 'Crashgate scandal' in 2008.and although Symonds has since returned to the F1 fold and is doing a fantastic job with Williams Martini Racing as their new technical director Briatore has stayed away from the sport despite the fact his ban was lifted.
Lauda has stated:
'Why do we need Flavio? Bernie is the man inn charge and he should stay in charge'.
Despite telling the teams in Hungary that Briatore would be involved in the working group Ecclestone has apparently back tracked on that assertion telling a German newspaper:
'We do not need Flavio. We can do it ourselves'.
Lauda believes that the fact that the race steward have become more lenient towards driver indiscretions has helped the sport and believes that had the safety car come out in Hungary when Adrian Sutil's Sauber spun and stalled on the main straight it would have made the race boring for the fans.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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