Underperforming (Benetton F1 Racing Team)

Name: GroundZero

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Product:	Benetton F1 Racing Team
Date:	06/11/00 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good young drivers, Renault owned now

Disadvantages: Briatore, lack of direction, car not good enough

Benetton are a team in desperate need of a change of direction. Since the glory days of 1994-95 when Schumacher won the drivers titles, Benetton have never remotely looked like achieving anything similar. In fact, they have only won once since those heydays, Gerhard Berger taking victory at Hockenheim in 1997.

The main problem with Benetton is a lack of leadership. The flamboyant Flavio Briatore is not what is needed. Although he was in charge of the team in its most successful period, the success of the team was down to the Schumacher/Brawn/Byrne partnership, now doing so well at Ferrari. Briatore is known for his damning criticism of his drivers, which is hardly the best way to boost their confidence and get them to perform to their best. He is also blissfully ignorant of some of the most basic safety rules in F1 - he has been known on occasion to smoke a cigarette on the pitwall - not the smartest thing to do when you're surrounded by large refueling tanks.

This year Benetton started off well enough, but then tapered off badly. This has been the general pattern of the team's progress over the past few seasons. They tend to score points regularly in the first half of the season, then fade badly towards the end. The Italian Giancarlo Fisichella led the team well enough, but his teammate Alex Wurz was somewhat of a disappointment. It was only in the last race of the 2000 season when Wurz was given the car that Fisichella had driven all season that he was able to show just what he could do.

For next season, Fisichella will be joined by Jenson Button. It will be interesting to see how the drivers fare against each other, as many in F1 rate Fisi very highly indeed. Don't be surprised to see sparks fly!

If Benetton can get some sort of decent management put in place, they could do well. They have been bought over by Renault, so it is likely that the car's performance will improve significantly. After the
2001 season, the team will be known as the Reanult team, with sponsorship from Benetton.

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