Alessandro Benetton does not forget Michael Schumacher

Alessandro Benetton, chairman of the holding company “Edizione,” was the special guest of the episode of “Race Anatomy,” broadcast on Sky Sport Formula 1 and streaming on NOW and dedicated to the commentary of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Alessandro Benetton’s presence was an opportunity to recall that, from November 28, the documentary “Benetton Formula” will be aired on Sky and NOW: the story of the blazoned Italian stable that innovated the world of Formula 1, a mix of memories and emotions that will return on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the historic world victories.

Idevised by the up-and-coming production company “Slimdogs,” the documentary traces for the first time the sporting epic of the Benetton team in Formula 1 in the 1990s. A large, partly previously unseen repertoire will show high-voltage on-track scenes, revolutionary insights and dramatic setbacks, reconstructing the rise and victories of a team no one would have bet on. Among the featured voices in Benetton Formula: Flavio Briatore, Gerhard Berger, Ross Brown, Rory Byrne, Bernie Ecclestone and Ralf Schumacher.

“What’s my idea of this Ferrari? There are times when you cannot achieve the discontinuity that is necessary to move forward and to improve. Orientals say that a plant, when it stops growing, dies. It happens in companies, it happens in projects, that at a certain point you stop this desire to go further and this then becomes very difficult to manage, because there’s always someone emerging who can make a difference, as somehow we did at Benetton Formula”.

“If I were in charge in Maranello what would I do? Too difficult a question. I, beyond the Formula One interlude, have always been involved in my own business, and I came back to our group recently, precisely with the desire to bring back this discontinuity that was a bit of a trademark for us. Here, I think etiquette says that it is always worth not looking into other people&#8221s plate, so I don&#8221t want to hazard any guesses, especially as I have not experienced this world closely in the last few years”.

“What I can say is that Ferrari returned to winning also and above all thanks to Michael Schumacher, that is, a person who was not only a great driver, but he was someone who brought with him a level of energy and the ability to contaminate others with this energy, made up of determination, precision, a willingness to devote oneself completely to the cause, which then ended up being contagious on a team that, we remember, was struggling”.

“Here, I think that companies, during times of change, need to be able to identify these leaders, capable of making a difference with their contaminating energy. I don&#8217t have one in mind for Ferrari, however, I would certainly think about the fact that winning teams almost always start with an outperformer and the building of the whole team, rather than ordinary planning of all activities”.

“What do I remember about the years recounted by “Benetton Formula”? It was an extraordinary cycle that is a bit about our family history, told through Formula 1, and then at some point it fell into a comfort zone for us as well. We forgot that change, discontinuity, were part of our DNA”.

“Those were extraordinary years: we introduced the lifestyle into Formula One, those were years when safety changed profoundly. Just think about Imola ’94. The technology today is much more sophisticated, the world of communication broader. However, there always remains this great desire to win on the part of the drivers, as a central point. I always look at Formula 1 with sympathy, I look at Red Bull and I am reminded of the Benetton of those years”.

“The famous line attributed to Lawyer Gianni Agnelli (“But how’is it possible that people who make pullovers are better at making Formula One cars than we are?)? I think it has actually been said. It is the courage of change, which comes easier when you have nothing to lose. On the other hand, when tradition, name, securities, past successes become a cage, there you fall into the trap. Here, we were starting out with a lot of hopes and few fixed points. This gave us the courage to change. Today I really want to reintroduce this thinking within our group, as we have done in recent years. To remind ourselves that even when you think you have, as one writer said, found all the answers, someone changes your questions”.