New kid on the grid
Rocco Bennetton promises to learn as F1 team chief
Posted: Thursday December 03, 1998 09:03 PM
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Benetton's Formula One team is hoping to revive its winning tradition Mike Cooper/Allsport |
ENSTONE, England (Reuters) -- Rocco Benetton is a
rarity in Formula One -- a team boss younger than world champion
Mika Hakkinen and with no track record in the sport.
But he insists that he, and his Italian industrialist
family, are fully committed to staying in motor racing's glamour
championship.
"As far as experience is concerned, I can't bring much,"
said Benetton Formula's new 29-year-old chief executive at his
Oxfordshire headquarters. "But I have managerial experience
from the United States. I don't have the experience of these people, but at the
same time I think that I have more enthusiasm and desire to
prove that I'm okay than anybody else.
"To be successful in Formula One you do not have to be a
racer. I am a manager. I think that Benetton Formula One can be
approached as a business. Today, it's not just a team any more, a garage with 10
people and a car. It's a business."
Soft-spoken and elegant in his grey business suit, he is, as the youngest son of company founder Luciano Benetton, 100 percent Italian despite spending 11 years in the U.S. where he obtained a degree in engineering from
Boston University. More importantly, he is a Benetton. He may be passionate
about motor sport, but business runs in the blood.
"I am here first of all to represent the Benetton group and
all of its shareholders," he declared.
He said the group had felt many people were failing to make
the link between the Benetton racing team and the Italian parent
company, and there was also a need to emphasize
Benetton's commitment to staying in motor sport.
"Speculation is the one thing that comes for free in
Formula One," Benetton said of rumors that had suggested the
family was growing lukewarm about their involvement. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe that there was something to look after for the future. They [Benetton and Benetton Formula] are two different
businesses, they are to be run on a separate basis for logical
reasons but they are the same family. My position
will make this even stronger."
Previously the company's commercial director,
Rocco replaced Englishman David Richards as Benetton Formula chief
executive in October after what his predecessor said were
disagreements about the team's future direction.
A month after being appointed, Benetton said he was
engaged in a thorough review of the team's activities. He is in
a hurry to learn the business, not to change it.
"I approach the sport with respect," he said. "I know my
limits, the fact that I don't have the experience that all of
the other team directors have. I approach it as a humble person, respecting the others and trying to learn as much as I can."
He insisted that he was no revolutionary and was optimistic
about next season, emphasizing that he had every intention to be
a hands-on chief executive. Drivers Giancarlo Fisichella, a Roman, and Austrian
Alexander Wurz have both been retained for 1999.
"The two lads have shown they have a lot of talent, among
the best in Formula One," said Benetton. "They have now got to
make a jump in quality. They owe it to themselves and to the team that is working very hard for them. We have two very talented drivers, now it's
time for them to show they can make a step forward."
Both drivers are younger than Rocco, but with more
racing experience, and Benetton shrugged off any
suggestion that being of the same age group was an asset in
putting them on the same wavelength.
"You could say that it is more important to have a
relationship with the sponsors," he said, adding that some of the other team bosses were old enough to be his grandfather, let alone father. "There are very few sponsors my age."
Benetton won the world championship with Germany's Michael
Schumacher in 1994 and 1995 and started last season in promising fashion
only to slump in the second half of the year. The team failed to win a race and finished fifth in the world constructors' championship, a point behind Jordan.
"We did make some mistakes and we want to make sure that we
don't repeat them, but I think that at the end of the day maybe
a bad experience helps," said Rocco.
After watching the unveiling of the team's new,
state-of-the-art wind tunnel on Monday, he said he was confident
1999 would see a return to the fast track.
"I believe we can fight for the championship, I believe we
have the elements to succeed," he said. "We are a top team and we have to deliver."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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