Briatore Hits Out at 'Childish' Rossi

Rossi singled out Briatore, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella as people he claimed were scared of seeing him make the switch to Grand Prix racing after he ends his career on bikes.

But his comments have provoked an angry response from Briatore - who has accused Rossi of behaving in a childish manner, suggesting the MotoGP champion prefers staying in bike racing rather than move on to harder challenges.

"I'm not afraid of people in F1, so there is no way I am of the ones in MotoGP," said Briatore in an interview in Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I've never criticized Valentino, I only said that if he really wanted to play the F1 card, then he had to face it with a serious test programme.

"If then he believes he's super phenomenal, well, then he should keep on winning on the motorbikes, where he has no rivals.

"He's like a kindergarten child, who has fun with toys. Let's let him have fun; when he'll then want to grow up, he should join the grown ups and demonstrate what he's really capable of."