"He is ignorant about Formula 1," said Piquet. "Maybe because of all the things that didn't favour me put me so low that he just didn't care. He didn't understand what is going on with the team.
"If you listen to the pit-wall radio, it's like a joke. He hasn't got a clue what is happening in the race. Sometimes he asks if a driver has slick or wet tyres when it is obvious.
"Everyone knows that his ego is bigger than anything else. He likes to show off. You can be a very good businessman and whatever, but the F1 team itself can do very well without him. When I first started he would attend all of the meetings and briefings, but taking away the business side, he makes comments that don't make any sense.
"The only good thing the team takes out of him is his good relationship with Bernie and the FIA. Other than that, he doesn't know what is going on. It's like listening to something my sister would say about the car. Pat Symonds is the guy who really understands what is going on with the team."
Briatore has declined to comment about Piquet's statements.
Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77638
So, a good question: should the overall top man in the team, the principal, know that much about cars, setups, strategy and tech, or should he concentrate on managing and running the business side of things? From my understanding of specialization of labour, it's OK if the manager knows little about the technical side of things. He's supposed to be a people manager (Flav's an awful one...), make the connection with the manufacturer that's bankrolling the team (he seems better at this) and have a general, business perspective of the operation, while maintaining the commercial contacts at high level (that's knowing Bernie, in this case).
Does it really matter he can't be bothered with what's going on on the track?
(He's actually smiling! He's crazy, that Martin Whitmarsh)
