Briatore: no sympathy for Schumacher

Schumacher and Renault driver Fernando Alonso looked set to be heading for a grandstand finish at Suzuka before the Ferrari engine blew-up with just 16 laps of the race remaining.

That left the way clear for Alonso to cruise home to open up a 10-point advantage in the drivers' championship with just one round to go.

But on the back of growing tensions between Renault and Ferrari, following the mass damper affair and blocking incidents in qualifying, Briatore has said he does not feel sorry at all for Schumacher.

"I feel the same sympathy that he did for us at Monza," he told autosport.com, referring to Alonso's engine failure at the Italian Grand Prix. "It was just like what happened to us in Italy.

"In life, these things happen. It is some higher force, something more powerful - maybe something in the ground."

All team bosses do not share Briatore's view, with Honda Racing chief Nick Fry claiming that he did feel sorry for Schumacher.

"I am pleased for Renault that they have managed to probably win the championship because they have worked jolly hard," Fry told autosport.com. "But, on the other hand, I do feel sorry for Michael because after such an illustrious career he is not going out with what he really wanted, which was to go out on the top."

Briatore has paid tribute to the efforts of his team, who have fought back against a run of incidents that cost them valuable points in Hungary, Italy and China.

"I think it was pretty good, no?" added Briatore. "It was a great performance from the team and a great performance from Fernando. Everybody did a great job. The car was amazing and in the end the tyre did the really proper job."

When asked how he would like his team to approach the Brazilian Grand Prix, Briatore said: "I don't know. Let's go there and see what happens."