Renault motor racing boss Flavio Briatore has pledged his long-term commitment to Championship club Queens Park Rangers, despite the crazy turmoil at Loftus Road
since he took charge 18 months ago. Briatore, at the Monaco Grand Prix, says: ‘I believe that I can successfully run a Formula One team and a football club. I have only had a short time in football and now is not the time to judge me. That’s for the future, as I have no intention of quitting QPR.’ Staying at Loftus Road: Briatore The 59-year-old Italian, who had his 29-year-old TV hostess wife Elisabetta Gregoraci on his arm, says he’s been wrongly portrayed as interfering in team affairs, although every QPR boss claims he does. However, what makes more commercial sense for Santander, who have 1,300 building society outlets to rebrand in the UK, having bought Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley, is to stay with McLaren and use British world champion Lewis Hamilton to promote their UK expansion.
Sir Jackie Stewart, who missed Monaco because he wouldn’t pay for an expensive hotel, is involved in some financial debate around a BBC preview for the British Grand Prix. Sir Stirling Moss, Damon Hill and Sir Jackie will get together to talk about their Silverstone memories but only Stewart wanted a fee.