Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone were against the new F1

The Alpine boss and the former CEO of the category spoke about the new technical regulations that came into force this year and made it clear that they are not very happy.

Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore are close friends. In fact, the English nonagenarian who managed the destinies of Formula 1 for four decades said in an interview in the first days of 2026 that in his life he had four true friends: “Three are no longer alive, Jochen Rindt, Max Mosley and Niki Lauda. Flavio Briatore is the only one still alive.” Together they formed a partnership, which was completed by Alejandro Agag (founder of Formula E), who acquired the Queens Park Ranger team from England in 2007. Years passed, Bernie stopped being the boss of F1, but he is still close. And Flavio, it is known, returned to assume command of Alpine.

Ecclestone and Briatore lived through various Formula 1 technical regulations and gave their opinion on the new era that comes into effect this year, cwith engines that deliver their power from equal parts of a combustion engine and an electric one. Energy management will be the big key to the 77th season of the World Championship and the drivers will not be able to go flat out all the time as was the case not so long ago. This new modality does not sit well with the old guard.

“The complex energy management of the new generation of cars puts Formula 1 at risk of a sharp decline. It’s just a waste of engineering effort, and fans won’t understand it. At the very least, they should explain what is happening. For the drivers, this has become a completely different game,” said Franco Colapinto’s boss in an interview with Motorsport Japan.

“Do you remember Formula E? Di Grassi won when he was about 50 years old. Formula 1 drivers tried to drive those cars, but it was impossible. Because? Because driving those cars is more like an engineering experiment. And that is precisely where we are headed now. Normally, to overtake you have to step on the accelerator. Now you have to let go of your foot. “I don’t know, but what is certain is that until now Formula 1 has made almost no effort to make viewers understand this part,” added the Piedmontese.

Ecclestone was also against the new regulations: “The DNA of this sport is that it is a world championship for drivers and not engineers. Formula 1 now competes more with Formula E. Maybe the fans like that, but I don’t think so. The danger is that we lose the fans. I sincerely hope I am wrong,” Bernie told Sport.de.