Achille Lunardi

From Formula Rejects Wiki
Revision as of 15:48, 11 June 2019 by Pinkd56 (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

Achille Lunardi is a French-Italian businessman who most recently served as chairman of Formula One Management.

Lunardi, prior to the role with FOM, was CEO of the EMEM s.a.s. company which was responsible for promoting music festivals in Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. Lunardi's events experience and enthusiasm for the sport were key factors in him replacing former Red Bull chief Christian Horner in August 2019. However, almost as soon as he was announced he began courting controversy by attacking Precision's Dean Stoneman by stating his doubt about his potential value as a champion. This cause much hubris in the paddock, with rival team Caterham coming out to defend the popular British driver.

Lunardi pushed for further expansion into growing markets during his short tenure; with a second Chinese race as well as Grands Prix in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia joining the calendar - albeit a year after he resigned from the office. In contrast, Lunardi broke up a long standing relationship with the Monza Circuit which saw Lunardi profess that the track would "never host the Italian Grand Prix again". Lunardi was also notable for putting forward the idea that points should only be awarded for the top three drivers in a Grand Prix, however this did not come to pass.

Lunardi's increasingly maniacal comments in the media caused FOM staff to reportedly bypass him in regards to major decisions - including the major $24.3 billion streaming deal with Tencent Holdings which he took credit for.

Lunardi resigned from the post on 1st August, 2020 due to "personal reasons" and was replaced by 1997 World Champion and former team owner Jacques Villeneuve.