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Dear Roger, Today I would like to talk to you about the journalist Benoit.
Roger Benoit: Does it have to be this way?
Yes, because the Australian GP on Sunday is the 800th time that you have been there as a journalist. 800. GP – what does this number do to you?
That says I must be a lunatic. I also notice that envy is increasing and that the prophet counts for relatively little in his own country.
Is 800 GP a world record for a journalist?
There is another Italian who claims to have more. But he only makes technical drawings and leaves immediately after the races on Sunday. From the editorial office in Zurich I also covered about 90 races. I am aware that I owe all this to Blick. If the then sports director Fridolin Luchsinger had not decided in 1970 to make me, the young schnösel, a Formula 1 reporter, everything might have turned out differently. By the way, in 2019 I was the only reporter invited by the world association FIA to the 1000th GP in history in Shanghai.
You have long been more than just a journalist. What influence do you have in Formula 1?
I have never wanted to have influence in my life, and that should never be the goal as a journalist. Let’s put it this way: I don’t walk around the paddock like a nobody and certain people listen to my voice every now and then.
You are understatement because you are definitely not only a journalist but also an influential person. Which drivers did you control when they started Formula 1?
Actually only one: with Marc Surer. In 1979 he became European Formula 2 champion at Donington. After the race, Ensign team boss Mo Nunn came up to me and said: “Ask your compatriot if he wants to test our car tomorrow.” So that evening at the party in the hotel I took Marc aside: “Nunn would like you to test his car tomorrow. So don’t drink too much.”
Surer actually became a Formula 1 driver. Did you get a commission for this?
Marc promised me ten percent of his first Formula 1 salary at the time. I also received this years later. That was about 2000 francs. Today would certainly be more rewarding.
But you not only brought Surer to Formula 1, you were also the first to hear of his ‘retirement’.
That was in Monza in 1985. I was already good friends with Bernie Ecclestone, who was still team boss of Brabham at the time. In that race, Surer finished fourth, just 0.2 seconds behind Ayrton Senna, although Surer should have easily overtaken him with the BMW turbo engine. Then Bernie came up to me in horror and said, “Surer just resigned. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Speaking of Brabham. In the 80s you almost bought the traditional English racing team.
A dark chapter in my life. Nelson Piquet also bore some of the blame at the time.
You have to explain that now.
Winter 1988. Piquet was a guest at Sportpanorama at the time. Since we are good friends, I visited him before his performance at the Hotel Dolder, high above Zurich. As he was about to leave for his TV appearance, he noticed he was still wearing the yellow Camel T-shirt. He therefore told me to wait at the reception until he got his coat from his room.
What happened then?
I struck up a conversation with two women at the front desk who were complaining that their taxi hadn’t shown up yet. I told them I could take them into town in the snowstorm since I still had to go to the newsroom. When Piquet showed up, all he said was, “Roger, even I can’t get in touch with women that quickly.”
A memorable encounter.
Yes, because the woman I fell in love with and later married was a cheater. She claimed that she had cocoa plantations in Brazil and wanted to buy Brabham with me. When Bernie found out, he said to me, “If you do that, I’ll kill you.” After a year and four days I got divorced. After that I regularly told Ayrton Senna that I had been married exactly one day longer than him.
What were the consequences of the relationship with the cheater?
Some journalists reported it with great pleasure, but it bothered me. I’ve filed this episode under the heading “stupid” or “life experience.”
How much did the divorce cost you?
Actually nothing. She simply left behind seven kilos of gold and three Tinguely photos. Okay, now change the subject.
So you never became a team boss, but could you have become the manager of a Formula 1 driver?
Yes, by Felipe Massa and Ralf Schumacher. Massa once wanted me to find sponsors for him. He offered me 25 percent of the proceeds.
For the legendary Mister Willi Weber that would have been more than 20 percent.
That’s right, but I thought to myself: Shoemaker, stick to your last.
And how was Ralf Schumacher?
He said to me, “Roger, I still need someone who is sensible.” But like I said, I always knew what I could do, but also what I couldn’t do.
But once Schumacher came to you with a special request.
There were always rumors that he was gay. That’s why he once invited me and “Bild” man Helmut Uhl to his camper in Hungary. There he explained to us that it would be in both newspapers tomorrow: “Ralf Schumacher: I’m not gay!”
Have you addressed it?
Yes, if anyone wants to, I will do it.
Have you ever been exploited?
No, that wouldn’t have worked for me, but I got involved in something. When Basel-born Peter Monteverdi, who died in 1998, bought the Onyx racing team in 1990, Goodyear boss Lee Gaug came to me before the race at Spa and told me: “If he doesn’t pay $275,000 tomorrow, we’ll give he has no ties.” So I went to Monteverdi and told him this news. He just said, “Make a head of it!” That’s why Blick appeared the next day: “Monteverdi without rubber.”
How did the story end?
Monteverdi called someone in Switzerland, who then drove to Spa overnight and brought the money in cash. That is also unthinkable today.
Speaking of Monteverdi. He doesn’t like that you never wear socks.
He once invited me to dinner at the noble restaurant in Schlosshotel Binningen. When I got there, he put a pair of white socks and a pair of pink socks on the table and said, “If you want to eat with me, you have to wear socks.” I replied, “Then I’ll go.” I could then stay, without socks of course.
Back to your influence in Formula 1. Have you ever taken down a driver?
Not directly, but Sauber driver Nicola Larini was the only instance where I wrote: “Now he has to go!”
Why?
At Imola 1997 he accidentally drove into the pit lane because he was following another driver who was turning. And two weeks later in Monaco he had to use the emergency exit eleven times during training. Hence this headline.
And was Larini gone then too?
Yes, two days later he lost his job at Sauber.
Did this headline have to do with the fact that you could always trust your gut feeling?
I always had and always have a feeling and a crystal clear opinion, these are my great strengths, because in most cases I was right, even if not everyone liked it of course.
What’s the best thing you’ve never written?
Let’s put it this way: who was in a relationship would be a very interesting chapter in itself. Surprising things would come to light. But if I had always written everything I know, I wouldn’t have survived 54 years in this shark tank called Formula 1.
How long will Formula 1 journalist Roger Benoit survive?
A stressful and difficult question. Maybe I’ll be like James Hunt. One morning he looked out the window and said, “The sun is shining today, I’m calling it quits.” For me there will certainly be no countdown, in the sense of: I will stop at the end of the season. This will be a spontaneous decision.
You’re now 75. Don’t you get tired of traveling?
No, even though I’ve probably flown around the world 100 times. 37 times Australia, 20 times South Africa, 10 times China, 15 times Japan and about 40 times America and Canada – a lot comes together. My only problem to this day is sleeping; I never actually fall asleep before four in the morning.
Why, after more than half a century of Formula 1, do you still not have enough?
Because I care about people. After last season, test drives with young drivers took place in Abu Dhabi. One of them was Andrea Antonelli from Mercedes. Everyone says this will be the new Senna. So I stood in the boxes and watched him for an hour. I looked at how he spoke, his gestures, his demeanor, his interaction with the mechanics. Then I briefly introduced myself to him. Such encounters fascinate me and I still enjoy them.
And what advice can you give to your young colleagues?
Stick to the facts. And never try to set an athlete or team up for success without providing an outlet for possible failure.
One last question: During your time in Formula 1, a handful of women also tried their luck in the premier class. Have you ever had an affair with any of them?
Luckily I can’t remember everything anymore…
And what is the honest answer?
Let’s put it this way: I once had a short adventure in Barbados with a former GP rider.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
