Briatore: tyre changes bad for McLaren

After the teams all agreed to re-introduce tyre changes next season, paddock pundits have regarded the move beneficial for Ferrari and Bridgestone, who struggled in 2005 to perform competitively against the Michelin-shod teams.

But Briatore says the agreement was made 'for the good of the sport', and he admitted the change could prove beneficial to his own team over their rivals McLaren.

"Although we won, we had the courage to support changes," Briatore told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We did it for the good of the sport, even though it's true we're taking an advantage away from McLaren because they could use the soft Michelins better than us.

"But I don't think this will give an advantage to Bridgestone, also because Ferrari and Toyota don't talk to each other for that old espionage story, while we Michelin teams have agreed to cooperate."

Briatore also said he did not believe the set of changes for 2006 - which include a new qualifying format and a new engine specification - were enough to improve the spectacle of the sport, and he was critical of Formula One's inability to find solutions to increase overtaking.

"F1 continues to be too sterile," Briatore said. "We told our technicians to come up with a formula that allows overtaking, and so far they haven't managed to; obviously they aren't geniuses either!

"I would, for example, give points for qualifying and invert the starting grid, with the best ones at the back."