However, he was dogged by allegations of cheating, including the 1994 "Launch Control" controversy and the 2007 "Spygate" affair, although in both cases his teams escaped penalties.

[3] In the 1970s, he moved to Cuneo and became an assistant to businessman Attilio Dutto, owner of the Paramatti Vernici paint company.

[1][6][7][8] In 1984, a court in Bergamo found him guilty of various counts of fraud and he was fined and sentenced to one year and six months in prison.

The judges described these as elaborate confidence tricks, in which victims were invited to dinner and then "ensnared" in rigged games that involved a cast of fictional characters and realised enormous profits for their perpetrators.

When Benetton opened his first five stores in the United States in 1979, he appointed Briatore as director of the group's American operations.

[8] Briatore attended his first Formula One race, the Australian Grand Prix, in 1988, having in the past proclaimed his lack of interest in the sport.

He hired and quickly fired engineer John Barnard and lured young driver Michael Schumacher from the Jordan team after his first F1 race in 1991.

When Schumacher and a number of key technical staffers departed for Ferrari in 1996, the Benetton team slipped to the middle of the grid.

[5] From 1998 to 2000, he led the company Supertec, supplying Mecachrome-built Renault engines to Williams and BAR in 1999, Arrows in 2000, and under the brand name "Playlife" for Benetton in both 1999 and 2000.

[16] Briatore also acted as manager for Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Heikki Kovalainen.

Despite winning the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix, Trulli was dropped from Renault by Briatore and replaced by Giancarlo Fisichella.

[16] In April 2006, Renault F1's new president Alain Dassas stated that having a contract with Briatore for 2007 was 'a key factor' in securing the company's commitment to the sport, "and we will do everything to ensure Flavio stays".

Despite this guilty verdict, Briatore hit back at McLaren's Ron Dennis, saying "here is a team that acquired an advantage illegally.

Just read the regulations: for intellectual property theft the punishment is exclusion... Ron Dennis… was the one who protested us on the mass damper.

The controversy centred on an early crash involving Nelson Piquet Jr.'s car during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix of 28 September 2008, when he was still driving for Renault.

In return for immunity from punishment, Piquet Jr. had reportedly stated to the FIA that he had been asked to crash by Briatore and Renault chief engineer Pat Symonds.

The FIA stated that it was coming down hard on Briatore because he denied his involvement despite overwhelming evidence and that Renault's actions were serious enough to merit being thrown out of F1.

However, since Renault took swift action by forcing Briatore and Symonds to resign once the affair came to light, the FIA effectively placed the team on two years' probation.

[32] British newspaper The Daily Mirror described the ban as the harshest sanction ever imposed on an individual in the history of motorsport.

[36] The FIA announced that it would appeal the decision issued by the French court, but the two parties reached an out-of-court settlement the following April.

[41] On 20 March 2014, he said that it was wrong to let the car manufacturers succeed in their push for the all-new regulations, featuring 'greener' engines that use less fuel.

"They delegated the writing of rules to engineers who do not care about the fans or entertainment, If Formula One does not change again in the near future, then the audience will be lost.

[46][47][48] However, several F1 executives, including Mercedes' Toto Wolff, Ferrari's Frédéric Vasseur, and Sauber's Alessandro Alunni Bravi, commented positively on the move.

[16] Briatore is a beneficiary of Autumn Sailing Ltd, which purchased the super yacht Force Blue from Home Shopping Network investor Roy Speer for £68.2m.

[56] The Italian Supreme Court ruled that there were no issues with the seizure, though the yacht itself was released[57] In 2007, Briatore was linked to a takeover of English Championship football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) from a Monaco-based consortium led by Gianni Paladini.

[citation needed] In December 2007, Briatore and Ecclestone were joined as co-owners of QPR by multi-billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who bought 20% of the club.

The Football League could force Briatore out of QPR under rules that stipulate a club owner must be a "fit and proper person".

[61] The Football League board discussed the matter on 8 October 2009 and declared that they would be awaiting a response from Briatore to various questions before commenting further.

[citation needed] When interviewed about the QPR experience on an Italian chat show, he stated: "I will never invest in a football club again, it's only ever a good idea if you're very rich and looking for ways to waste your money.

In two years you'll be very poor and won't have that problem anymore" In 1993, an explosive device destroyed the front door of Briatore's London mansion.