Briatore relieved after 'stressful' season

Renault won their second consecutive constructors' championship, as well as a second consecutive drivers title for Fernando Alonso, in one of the closest fought battles of recent years.

The French outfit ended with 206 points, compared to Ferrari's 201.

And Briatore admitted this season was particularly tough on him - singling out factors such as the controversial decisions made against Renault by the governing body as well as his personal battle with health issues this summer.

"With everything that's happened, the last 15 days have been hard," Briatore said in an interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport. "I would wake up at two or three in the morning and be unable to get more sleep.

"Now I feel great relief when thinking about the four titles won in two years: it's a nice chapter in the history of Renault, and mine too. Because I, in 12 years of Formula One, have won seven championships.

"The most stressful has been this one, with a very strong Ferrari and Schumacher on a roll, because he knew he was giving it all for the last time."

"There have been things that I haven't understood," Briatore added, when asked about the FIA's decision to ban Renault's mass damper system as well as controversially penalise Alonso at Monza last month. "I hope, with time, to be able to understand these decisions better."

Italian Briatore also admitted that he takes great pride in beating Ferrari, although he conceded that it doesn't make him very popular in his home country.

"I do my job the best way I can; some understand this, others don't," he told the newspaper. "People often judge me in a superficial way. For me it's a honour to beat Ferrari because they're a great team.

"But Formula One is international. A Frenchman (Jean Todt) heads Ferrari, so it's OK for an Italian to manage Renault.

"At one point it looked like Ferrari had already won the championship. It was hard realizing you have the media and the system against you.

"In Italy I'm loved but also hated. I'm proud to be Italian, but I would like Italy to love me more."

When asked about his cancer scare earlier this summer, after he underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his kidney, Briatore said he always placed Renault's needs ahead of his own.

"I've always thought more about Renault than about myself," the Italian stated. "After the operation, the doctors told me to avoid stress: if I was smart, I would have quit immediately.

"Instead, even in the clinic I was in contact with the engineers. I tried to play down [the illness] to avoid crying or be pitied - so much so that some thought it was just made up."

Briatore said he drew strength from Renault's head of aerodynamics Dino Toso, who himself has fought with cancer in recent years.

"He is an exceptional man: we gave strength to each other," Briatore said. "Maybe the illness has been an extra push to win in this very difficult environment.

"When things go bad, teams crumble. In contrast, we stayed together and counter-attacked."

Looking ahead, though, Briatore was defiant that Renault will remain strong, and the Italian admitted he relishes the constant challenges of Formula One.

"I live for challenges, but always with mid-grid teams," Briatore said. "I enjoy it more. It's better to win against the big teams, because they get really annoyed by that."