Briatore puzzled by Ferrari speed

Although Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella locked out the front row of the grid for tomorrow's race at the Circuit de Catalunya, Briatore has said he is at a loss to explain why Ferrari were able to put up such a strong challenge.

"Ferrari are amazing," he said after qualifying. "The Michelin tyre is working very well here and it looks like Bridgestone only works with Ferrari. It is something really, really strange. It is something that we need to think about."

Although Renault were beaten by Ferrari at last weekend's European Grand Prix, despite having grabbed pole position, Briatore claims he is more confident about his team's chances this time out.

"If you start on pole then it is normal that you are confident for the race - and especially we see here that Michelin did a very good job. We know already in Germany we were penalised because Bridgestone were much, much better - but this time we are better.

"But although I say better, not with Ferrari. The package of Bridgestone and Ferrari is different to any other package and this is something that we need to understand why."

Speaking about the importance of having Fisichella up at the front of the field to help the team, Briatore said that he did not want to put too much pressure on the Italian.

"It is important to have two cars up front," he said. "Two cars in front is always important. We are leading the championship at the moment and we don't need to put any pressure on anybody at the moment because in the points we are in front.

"But tomorrow the only people we are fighting with is Ferrari because everybody else is a little bit far behind."