Flavio pays tribute to Viry

It was exactly 14:00 this afternoon when Flavio Briatore stepped onto the stage in Viry – under an avalanche of applause and cheering! Several minutes later, silence – or nearly – finally reigned in the heart of the team’s engine development facility.

It has been a demanding year for all at Viry, especially late in the season when a reliability problem for Fernando Alonso at Monza mobilised the team’s full resources to resolve it – without compromising performance development.

They rose to the challenge magnificently, with the skill of true champions, and it was their rivals at Ferrari who cracked under the pressure. The Renaults performed faultlessly throughout the final part of the season, while two decisive engine problems in China and Japan for Massa and Schumacher allowed Renault to regain the advantage in the championship battle.

Flavio’s speech was long, emotional and authentic. “What can I say?” he began. “Apart from to tell you all that you are the very best… You have faced a huge challenge this year, on so many levels, and you have shown the spirit, and the skill, of true champions. We won this championship because we were better on every level: performance and reliability. That is your achievement, to have been the last champions of the V10 era – and the first champions of the V8 period. It will stand in the history books forever…”

There followed more words for the team, applause, embraces, sincere thanks from both side – and family photos. The atmosphere was like the homecoming of a victorious army after a long, intense battle. It is a moment will live long in the memories of Viry-Châtillon, whose engines have now conquered eight constructors’ world championships in thirty seasons of Formula 1 participation.