Former team boss of Benetton and Renault has made some statements in the German press at the weekend regarding the state of F1 and Liberty’s involvement.

The charismatic Italian of questionable integrity has been mentioned as a possible consultant for Liberty with regard to running the sport.

“Liberty are in control of Formula One but I don’t think they truly understand it.” muses Briatore.

Despite some very questionable actions in his past, most notably the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix – Orchestrated with Pat Symonds a deliberate accident into the wall with their young driver Nelson Piquet Jr thus enabling Fernando Alonso to take victory. – the former team boss does make sense when giving his analysis on the sport.

“Budgets of 600 to 700 million per season are too much, and the engineers have too much say in the new regulations”.

“We have to put the drivers at the centre of the sport again. Teams do not count, not even Ferrari.

Fans don’t care who’s engine is under the cover, on the contrary we need roughly equal cars so that real talent can stand out again.”

With regard to young Max Verstappen, the Italian likens him to Senna having seen his driving display at Brazil last season.

“When I saw him at the Brazilian Grand Prix, I thought give him a half decent car and he’ll be world champion.

I never seen anything like that on a race track since the young Ayrton Senna”.

A bold claim from a bold character but is that a true comparison? It’s often said that Senna was a naturally talented driver but actually when his past team members are questioned about the Brazilian driver, they nearly always say he was a deep thinker first and foremost. Is the same true for Verstappen?