Briatore: Alonso surpasses Schumacher

Although drawing short of specifying which driver he believes was better, Briatore has claimed that there was one area where Alonso is much better than the seven-time world champion.

"They are two different drivers, in different eras of F1," Briatore told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine. "But between the two I believe Fernando makes fewer mistakes than Michael.

"The more pressure you put on Fernando, the better he gets. Michael was not so good at handling pressure."

Briatore claims that Alonso's aborted switch to McLaren, which ended after a turbulent 2007 season, did make the Spaniard an improved driver.

"Fernando is Fernando. He came with one more year's experience. And at this kind of high level, especially in a very competitive team, that's important."

Speaking about his feelings when Alonso announced back in December 2005 that he was switching to McLaren, Briatore said: "For sure it wasn't good. It was Christmas and this was not a good Christmas gift.

"I knew it would be difficult for him because the human part is very important to Fernando, but I knew he was not happy there. But I wasn't angry or disappointed. Just sad."