Flavio Briatore Q&A

"It was very nice for the team, a very good result for everybody. It was a nice race, nice pit stop, a nice strategy, everything was perfect. It was very tough this year, but it looks like we're going in the right direction."



"Honestly we know why, it was nothing magic. We were very, very clear, and especially [Renault boss] Patrick Faure said, that Renault arrives in F1 in 2002. We knew the situation of the team, we knew the situation of the environment in Benetton, and I was sure it would take me at least one year to put the team together. But in this moment I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like we're improving the car in a major way, and little by little we're improving the engine as well. We need to be ready by 2002 for Renault to be in F1."



"I believe we started with the engine a little bit too early in the car, but on the other hand we've seen the progress we've done in the last two months. I'm sure this kind of progress we've made because we're racing with this engine. If not, maybe we'd still be behind in development. In the end I believe it was painful, but it was the right decision."



"I tell you I want to be in the first four or five teams, and I want to finish this year qualifying from Monza to the last race in the first 10. This was what we said in the beginning of the season. It's difficult, especially now the competition is very tight. But we know F1 quite well, and I know as well that it needs a lot of time. We need another one or two years to be in the top, top, top. But next year we need to be in the first four or five teams."



"It depends on the drivers, it depends on many things... I hope as soon as possible. I don't know. Let's see, if we're working well with this winter, and if I see the progress the team has made in the last few months, if we continue to progress like that, then maybe we have a surprise next year."



"As you know when Renault took over Benetton we had the option to take Fisichella and Trulli. The option for Fisichella was put on one side, the option for Trulli was clear. Just after I didn't exercise the option, Jordan signed a contract with Fisichella, which put me in the corner to take the option of Trulli. It was as simple as that."



"We announced in Barcelona already, Patrick Faure, and Bruno Michel [Flavio's partner in Supertec] and myself, that the management of all these drivers is 50:50 between us and Renault. It's not myself any more in charge of that, it's Bruno Michel."



"I don't know honestly, but I think he's not too bad, especially in qualifying. All year he's been quite good. But Fisichella is as well. For me the two drivers are kind of equal."



"It's important that we stay friends. Giancarlo understands the situation. It was nothing strange. At the moment I didn't exercise the option and Jordan signed a contract with him, I was obligated to take Trulli."



"Jenson is up and down. We have a better car now, and now he needs to do a better job. Before it was difficult to ask the drivers to do something better. He was happy with the car in Barcelona testing, and it looks like it performs quite well now, so now we need a step from him as well."



"We have a contract with Jenson, and I don't think anything will happen. But I need to make a wake-up call as well."



"Yes, but I enjoy it. I know exactly what F1 is, I've been there for 12 years, and one time I was managing three teams. I'm very happy and very proud of my people at this moment, because we're trying as a team again, and little by little it's coming back together. The atmosphere is much better, the harmony between the French and the English is wonderful, and the results are arriving. We are very motivated."