In brief

Flavio Briatore update after heart operation

flavio-briatore formula 1
Flavio Briatore was team principal for Benetton then Renault in the 1990s and 2000s. © All rights reserved

After the detection of a benign tumour, the Italian and Monegasque resident Flavio Briatore underwent emergency heart surgery at the age of 73. He shared an update on his Instagram account.

The news on his state of health is reassuring. “Ten days ago, I went to San Raffaele Hospital (Milan) for a routine check-up and they found  a benign tumour in my heart. They took immediate action. And I’m still here to tell the tale. I spent ten days at the San Raffaele hopsital and off all the social networks,” he says in a video, posted on his Instagram account, with the caption “Thank you for your affection and support!”.

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Back home soon after the operation, he took the opportunity to send his subscribers a message about prevention. “I would really like to thank the whole San Raffaele team, they were great, I must thank Elisabetta Gregoraci who stayed by my side the whole time, and my son who came from Monaco to see me at the hospital in Milan. So everyone was at my side, my friends and a many others. But the main thing is prevention, to get a check-up every year. I had one two years ago and the benign tumour wasn’t there then, but this time there it was. We need to look after ourselves, prevention is fundamental. I’m telling you, I spent ten days in the hospital and here I am. Tomorrow I’ll be back at it.”

“Back at it” trackside at the Grand Prix circuits, since he is particularly close to the Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, who must decide soon if he will continue to take part in the Championship in 2025, and if so, with which team.