Kovalainen front runner for Renault seat

Briatore had been chasing Kimi Raikkonen to replace Fernando Alonso, who is moving to McLaren, but the Finn appears set to make the switch to Ferrari in 2007.

Although Briatore has drawn short of confirming his driver plans, he said at the Hungarian Grand Prix that his team were ready to give Kovalainen his chance.

"There are many drivers in F1, not just the drivers that everyone knows," he said. "There are plenty of engineering talents in F1 that people don't know. We always talk only about a few people - like Adrian Newey, who went from McLaren to Red Bull.

"But there are plenty of other people in F1 who are good when it comes to managing a team. Everybody thought that when we lost (former technical director) Mike Gascoyne that Renault would collapse, but we won the championship.

"And with drivers, it is the same. Will we not get Raikkonen? Okay. But there is the possibility to have a good time with a young driver like Heikki. We don't need to wait for anything; he can get in the car straight away.

"We know all the drivers available, but it is best to have someone who has done 20,000km of testing and is ready to race in F1. Even Robert Kubica was mine - and he is a bloody good driver.

"I lost him, but no one is perfect. Although that wasn't my mistake, it was someone else's."

The news on Kovalainen rules out the Briatore-managed Mark Webber from Renault, but the Australian is now being strongly linked with a move to Red Bull Racing.

Briatore declined to elaborate on where Webber was heading, but he did make it clear that the Australian's deal was sorted for 2007 - although a final contract may not have yet been signed.

"The situation is settled, and it has been settled for some days," said Briatore about Webber. "He does not have a problem and he has got a good future in front of him."

Briatore's opinion is that Michael Schumacher will retire at the end of the season - leaving Ferrari to run Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in 2007.

"On this cloudy day in Hungary, I must say that my opinion, and it is my opinion, is that Schumacher has decided he will stop," he said. "Ferrari will race with Raikkonen and Massa."