While McLaren offers a range of (fan) clothing which includes a jacket that enables you to connect your MP3 player and control the volume by touching certain points on the sleeve, thereby conjuring up images of bedlam when The Ronster punches Norbert on the arm after another engine failure, Renault team boss opens his fifth 'Billionaire' boutique in Vienna today.

According to Bloomberg, the charismatic Italian plans to have twenty stores open by 2009, with at least ten of them opening in the coming months.

"We are a very small niche,'' he said of Billionaire, whose clients include David Beckham and Harrods owner Mohammed Al-Fayed. "If you have a niche, you are quite protected.''

Briatore, who entered F1 over twenty years ago with Benetton has two Billionaire 'outlets' in London, the two other current stores being in Moscow and Tokyo. This is in addition to his Billionaire nightclub in Sardinia and a forthcoming beach resort in Kenya.

"Billionaire is a bit of a game,'' he admits. "People in Italy think that I live only thanks to Billionaire. Then it becomes a communication phenomenon because everyone talks about it, good or bad."

As far as the clothing goes, Billionaire lives up to its name, with hand-made ties ranging from £150 right up to an £18,000 pounds for a bespoke suit with platinum thread.

"In the end, the person with the wallet is the man,'' admitted the Italian.

What's the betting we see Billionaire stores in Abu Dhabi and other points East in the coming months?