Royal visit

Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore visit Alinghi base

Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, Formula One 'royalty', visited the Alinghi base this evening on their whirlwind tour of the America’s Cup village. Skipper Brad Butterworth and MD Grant Simmer gave them the guided tour.

Ecclestone commented on the visit: “This is of a very, very high standard and F1 is the same. This is the first time I have ever visited anything to do with the America’s Cup and I am very impressed with it.”

Butterworth drew the comparison: “We often refer to the America’s Cup as the F1 of sailing and as a team we aspire to that level of professionalism, technology and everything that goes with it” which brought a retort from Ecclestone: “But we liken F1 to your level!”

The CEO of Formula One and the managing director of the Renault F1 team were accompanied by President of the region, Francisco Camps and Valencia Mayoress Rita Barbera.



Briatore spoke about the standard of racing of the America’s Cup and F1: “The quality of competition is about the same. The level of technology between F1 and the America's Cup is very high. We work in the same way. We are the best and work with the best. You are the best and work with the best. If you compare the way that we run the car project with the way you run the boat project, the details and the time spent, it would be about the same. The America’s Cup is at the pinnacle of technology on the sea and we, in F1, are at the pinnacle of technology on the track.”

The two took in the rooftop terrace, the Alinghi Club, the public interactive zone, cinema and Simulator before heading to a 400-person gala dinner tonight at L’Hemisfèric in Valencia’s uber-modern Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. Alinghi team members will also attend the evening as guests of the City.