Briatore Moves to Avoid Complacency

Although Fernando Alonso's victory in the German Grand Prix has allowed him to open up a 36-points advantage in the title chase, Briatore is refusing to believe the Championship is won just yet.

That is why he is flying straight back to his base to deliver his message to the team that they need to work even harder until the title is actually in the bag.

"This race was a big step for Fernando and for the team," said Briatore about seeing Alonso take the win at Hockenheim after Kimi Raikkonen's retirement. "This team is really a dream team, with all the players doing their job, with everybody working very hard in the last three months.

"But we need to start working harder because the competition is very strong. In sport you never think about winning before something is over, so I will go to the factory and congratulate all the people, but also make sure we continue to push hard in the next two months."

Briatore cites the example of the Champions' League final, where AC Milan threw away a 3-0 advantage at half-time against Liverpool, as proof about how quickly things can change in sport.

"You should never give up pushing hard because I remember Milan were winning 3-0 in the Champions' League final against Liverpool. All the Italian people were going 'okay, it's over, let's go'.

"But you cannot write people off, and in the end - boom - Milan lost. You cannot give your competitor a chance.

"McLaren are under more pressure after this and they have a bigger job to do. But they are a very strong team, and I'm sure they are also pushing hard, so we need to be competitive and be on the podium all the time."

He added: "We need to keep our foot on the floor because we have won nothing at the moment, just a few races.

"So now we need to work harder for the last few races. We need to forget what we have. The only day we will win the championship is when we have so many points that we cannot be caught. We won't give up, but with the motivation we have, it makes it a lot easier."