Briatore critical of 'little' Massa

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has slammed Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, as the Italian believes he was slowing Fernando Alonso down during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix

"Massa is the kind of guy. He is a kid. He is a little kid. Little in every sense," Briatore told reporters.

Massa seemed to be running slower than Alonso in the final part of qualifying, with the world champion trying to pass him for a couple of laps, even weaving his car at the end of the straight so the Ferrari driver could see him.

The incident was similar to the one that cost Alonso a penalty at the Italian Grand Prix, where it was Massa who was running behind the Spaniard.

Briatore said they will talk about the incident with race director Charlie Whiting, but the Renault boss did not expect any consequences for Massa, suggesting again that Ferrari are favoured by the FIA.

"Felipe was in front of Fernando, braking and everything," said Briatore. "We will talk with Charlie about this, this is perfect. Today we will tell Charlie, but nothing will happen. We already know what the answer will be.

"Fernando on the radio was complaining. If you are fighting with McLaren it is fine, if you fight with these guys (Ferrari) it is impossible."

Briatore admitted they were worried about their form for tomorrow's race after Alonso qualified down in fifth place while Ferrari locked up the front row.

"For sure we are worried, but let's see. If you see the numbers it looks like Ferrari dominated amazingly, but then you see Toyota as well. For qualifying it was amazing but let's see what happens tomorrow.

"We did the best we could. The best of the Michelin tyres and we saw what happened to McLaren. For the race I am not upset because I think for the race we are in good shape."