Briatore Plays Down Renault Failure

The French squad were left empty-handed in Canada following an unusual mistake by Fernando Alonso and more bad luck for Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, who retired from the lead with a mechanical failure.

Rivals McLaren won the race thanks to Kimi Raikkonen, although things could have been worse for Renault as the British team were looking set for a 1-2 finish before Juan Pablo Montoya was black-flagged.

"Nobody died, in fact Montoya's retirement makes our Sunday less bitter," said Briatore.

"The Championship is more open, but it's still very long. Alonso made a mistake, that's true, but we need to remember he's just 23 years old, and that anyway we leave Montreal with the knowledge of having a competitive car."

Fisichella was bitterly disappointed after his continuing misfortune, showing his frustration by tossing his gloves to the floor after getting out of his car.

Briatore seemed unimpressed with the Italian's behaviour.

"We pay [Fisichella] to race, not to get pissed off. If he doesn't like it he can change teams," Briatore was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

Fisichella, meanwhile, claimed he lost a sure victory.

"It hurts to lose a race I felt I would have won," he said. "A few laps after my pitstop I felt the gearbox started not working, and the only thing I could do was going back to the garage.

"It's a tough period but we'll come out of it because I'm part of a great team."