Interview with Flavio Briatore

Renault boss Flavio Briatore has won plenty on track - and has a growing number of admirers off it. His ruthless determination to succeed has never come at the expense of his personality - and Formula One is so much better off for him remaining at the helm of the French team.

The Italian faces different challenges this year, though, with Fernando Alonso gone from the team and Heikki Kovalainen having been brought in. It is going to be a tall order repeating the successes of the past two seasons, but Briatore is up for it.

And, holding court with the British media at the official launch of the team's new R27 in Amsterdam this week, Briatore made it clear he is as fired up - and cheeky - as ever."

Q: How confident are you feeling?

Flavio Briatore: We are just finishing the first test. For us it was the first time that Renault have two cars (for the first test) in my history at the team. The team were working very well this winter, and although we don't have Fernando any more, everyone is very motivated to do an amazing job at the factory. We have done two race distances, one with Fisico and one with Heikki. I think everything is good.

"We are very proud as well to have ING on board. It is important to have such a strong financial partner. You can see their enthusiasm. It is great for F1, because at one point when the cigarette (companies) pulled out everyone was thinking that it was a financial disaster for F1. It is not, because we give the possibility for a company like ING to enjoy F1. I believe at this point, that we need to improve the show. We need to improve our performance and make the people enjoy more our race."

Q: Are the people in the team desperate to show they are not a one man band, and that Renault were not just about Fernando Alonso?

Briatore: "I always believe in the team. But I believe that not because I am a dreamer but because we demonstrated with Benetton when we discovered (Michael) Schumacher. Then we demonstrate with Renault. Renault, when we arrived in F1 five years ago, nobody put even one penny on us. It was kind of a joke - that Briatore was very lucky with Michael and there is no way he will make it. Then we see what happened!

"After four championships in two years we are here. We have a very efficient budget, and this is part of the team. Part of working together. This is what we need. F1 is not only technology. F1 is lifestyle, it is communication, and it is global market."

Q: But it comes down to delivering on the track. Can you fill Fernando's boots in that respect?

Briatore: "You know, F1 is something that perhaps you guys know better than me. What is most important is finishing the race and getting points. We have a team (in F1) who in the last eight or nine years have the best driver, but have never succeeded to win the championship. Correct?

"First you need to have the right car. Then you need to make sure that your car is performing and finishing the race, and make sure that your engineers understand the race is 64 laps and not 58 laps or 18 laps. This is I believe the first input you need into your people.

"Then after that, I believe Fisichella and Heikki are both good enough to win races and get on the podium. After that, I don't know. Every year in the winter every team is a world champion - especially a team that has lost the world championship they are the winter champions. I want to see what will happen in Australia, it is as simple as that."

Q: Has Fernando's departure made Renault more focused and united then?

Briatore: "Fernando is surely a big loss. I always say what I think. He is a big loss and he is an asset that we lost. But we don't know how good Heikki is. Heikki for me was ready in 2002, but because I believe he was a talent, like I did with Fernando, I fight with him to make sure that he was not getting into F1 too early. Now is the right time for Heikki. He has done whatever he needed to do, we monitor him all last year and he is ready to jump in the car and win the race.

"Everybody talks about experience but so many drivers with a lot of experience have never won anything. Nothing. This is always the F1 thinking - you take the brand not the driver. The guy with 10 years experience, who has never won anything, it is better to take somebody new in the business and see if he has the talent."

Q: Do you see a kind of Fernando/Michael level of talent in Heikki?

Briatore: "We'll see. I think I am sure that if you give him the right car...I give you an example from last year: Felipe Massa. I never believed Massa was so good, honestly. If you asked me about Massa at the beginning of last season, I thought he was a kind of idiot. But give him the right car, he was terrific. And in two or three races he was really performing.

"And Fisichella helped us win the constructors' championship. Everybody talked about Fernando, but Fisichella was finishing races. If you have the world championship in the constructors' then it is because both drivers were scoring points."

Q: Has Lewis Hamilton come into F1 at the right time?

Briatore: "I don't know. I think he has experience in GP2, but Heikki has 20,000km of experience in F1 and that is very important. Hamilton is a natural talent, but I don't know if it is too early for him."

Q: Do you think a rookie can win the championship?

Briatore: "In 2003, if we had the right engine - maybe we had the best car - I don't think Fernando would have had any problem to win the world championship. I believe that the driver is different now. I don't believe someone who in 10 years of F1, and has never won anything, can start winning now. But I believe the new talent is possible to arrive in F1 and win races and win the championship.

"If you win four or five races, then you will be there. Maybe this year you will have six or seven drivers with the possibility to win a race. It depends as well on the team. I believe this year you have three or four teams, including Honda and Jenson Button, who have the possibility to win races. Last year Honda were strong at the end of the season.

"You have the two Ferrari guys, the two McLaren and the two Renaults. If everything goes right then it could be very interesting. Everybody has two race drivers in their team, which is good. The fact that Michael is not at Ferrari anymore then Ferrari have two race drivers now!"

Q: Does Fisichella have to step up his game this year?

Briatore: "Fisichella needs to help himself. We need to give all the possibility and all the technical support, but in the end we are not in the car. You see Fisico this year, he is better. You will see him walk, he walks more quickly now! Last year when he went to the podium he was slow and his shoulders were down, but now he is quick! I am sure Heikki will push him hard."

Q: Does he have more pressure then this year?

Briatore: "I don't think so. I think when you have Fernando Alonso you have much more pressure."

Q: But from you?

Briatore: "You know me, it is nothing new. Fisico has the talent to win, but you need help with the talent. What you need to do is really concentrate, and that is the thing about F1. For the seven or eight months we are on the road, he needs to think about that. Thinking about working better with the engineering and getting more upset with himself when things go wrong - not only 'okay, it is just another race, let's forget it'. If you want to be number one in your job you need to work very hard, nobody gives you anything. You need to take it, and to take it you need to work really hard.

"When you have somebody exceptional with you like Fernando, you learn. Now, Fisico after three years in the team, he is well established and knows everything. It depends on him, but I am sure he has the talent. If I believe for one second that Fisichella does not have the talent then for sure he would not be in Renault. But Fisico gave an incredible contribution to Renault to help win the constructors' championship."

Q: Will Fernando's dominance and the way he drives have an affect on Lewis Hamilton?

Briatore: "This is the problem of Fernando and Hamilton, it is not my problem whatever happens. We will see. Maybe it will be an interesting championship for television, for you guys. This is what we need. We need an F1 more interesting. We need more overtaking, we need more fighting between the drivers. This is what we need.

"We don't need F1 clinical and upset and far from the public. We need more emotions in the race. Maybe this year is the year we have more fighting between everybody and it will be great."

Q: Of the rookies, has Heikki got the measure of Hamilton then because of his experience?

Briatore: "Heikki was strong in 2002 and in testing the car he was strong, but he was too early to be in F1. He was upset as well, because last year there were two or three big opportunities to drive in some important teams and I stopped him driving. In the beginning he was upset but this helped him to mature and now he is the guy this year.

"I do not promise anything, but I am sure Renault is a protagonist this year. How good we are depends on the opposition as well. Every year I never tell what we are doing, I never tell you we are strong or not. We will see in Australia.

"But I am happy for my team, because my team is together. And in the end we have done an incredible job. We arrived in F1 in 2001, five years ago, and in five years we have won four championships. Everybody talks about experience, but experience means nothing.

"So for this I have a great deal of confidence in Heikki, because why not a young guy winning a race? Fernando won in 2003 in Hungary. With Schumi we won the race in Spa. If you have the talent and if you want to beat your rivals, then you have to bring the new driver. If you give me a list of drivers, then after Fernando, Heikki is the guy I want to have."

Q: So losing Fernando has not made that much difference to the team?

Briatore: "No. If you have a company, you need to work with the company to keep the people together. It is not a one-man band, it is not one player who makes a difference. If you see McLaren, then Kimi was there for five years and was considered the best driver, better than Fernando, but he won nothing. It is quite simple."

Q: Is anything missing from Renault then?

Briatore: "No, I don't think so. We want to compete with McLaren and Ferrari, we are competing with the best people in the world. We don't care what the other teams are doing, what we care about is F1. Our show, what kind of communication we have in F1 and what can we do in F1 with our partner. This is a global sport.

"Everyone talks about engine technology, but what is our job? We are this big television show in the world, we are number one, and our job is to make sure that the people enjoy watching F1 and they enjoy being a partner with us. That is what we want."

Q: Ron Dennis is talking about being more fun this year...

Briatore: "Make Ron funny? Impossible. My god. This is mission impossible.

"Renault was always open and Benetton was always open, maybe it is the right strategy. We need to be closer with the people, sometimes we are too far from the people and we are too far from the press. I believe we need to be close together and we need to improve our sport together, and that is with you guys from the media because you are a big part of it. I never see you guys complaining, and you are very important for the future of F1. But I don't want to talk about Ron today."

Q: How will Ron manage Fernando then?

Briatore: "The stuff was funny about McLaren becoming sympathetic, but after that I don't want to talk about McLaren."

Q: What about your future. You are back again. What is it that keeps you going?

Briatore: "It is the team. For me last year was pretty much smart, as I always wanted to stop as the world champion. But I missed two opportunities now, and I don't know if there will come a third opportunity. But for me it is the team.

"When you lose one guy like Fernando in the team then for sure you need to be a part of your people. In the end my success, Renault's success, is our people. They need security for the future. If Renault is performing then we have a future. The people in the company, they have a mortgage to pay and people to send to school. We have a big responsibility. I feel that if I leave the team then there was a lot of change, and I don't think it was correct for the people working in the factory. And I enjoy it - that is the most important point.

"In the end you are doing this job, you need to have fun, fun with your result absolutely, and fun with your people. I am managing Renault with 1000 people now and Benetton before with 150 people."

Q: Flavio, you mentioned Felipe Massa earlier on. How good is he? Can he beat Kimi?

Briatore: "You know, I have no clue. In the beginning Massa was not in my thinking, but last year he was a good driver. Only the stupid don't change their mind. I recognise that."

Q: How well suited is the new car to the Bridgestone tyres?

Briatore: "It is different, for sure. Like everybody, we lose a lot. We put the Bridgestones in the wind tunnel and we lose - especially in the slow corners. It is difficult to balance the car, much more difficult, but I hope it is for everybody. The advantage we have is that we have done 1300km with each car in Jerez and we really understand much better what is going on, and we are now much more prepared. To have two cars ready and to do this big mileage is I think a big advantage. So thank you to the people in the factory, because it is the first year we have two cars ready to test in January."

Q: So you have to make changes for the next test?

Briatore: "Yes. The car you see here is only 50 percent of what we see in Australia. We have no problem with the gearbox also."

Q: Fernando Alonso's driving style was quite distinctive. Has the new Renault been built around Giancarlo's style?

Briatore: "This is utter bullshit. We just build the car, there is no question of style or no style. We don't build a car for Fernando, one for Giancarlo and one for the test drivers - that is impossible. Last year the car was the same for Fisichella and Fernando."

Q: Did Fernando take a big gamble in going to a team that has not won a championship since 1999?

Briatore: "So long (since winning)? It is amazing, a big team like with all this technology. That is amazing!

"I don't know. It is Fernando's choice. I always respect the decision of the driver because we had an amazing time. For us it is a new challenge. And good luck. And if we don't win, then I wish Fernando wins."

Q: Will Ferrari be weaker without Michael?

Briatore: "I don't think so, because Ferrari have a little bit of an advantage with respect to everybody on the tyres. And really Massa was quick last year, and Kimi, I don't know, I don't have an opinion, but Ferrari are a strong team. Last year Michael made some mistakes and nowadays the game is quite simple. If you lose in one race three seconds through a mistake then you lose the race. Over the year, if you lose 16 or 17 seconds of mistakes then you lose the championship. It is so tight.

"Last year I think it was quite clear that the Ferrari car was quicker than us. But we made less mistakes than Ferrari. There was one moment when Ferrari had the possibility to win the championship and we won both. I am sure that before Suzuka, the bookmakers gave Ferrari 75 percent chance, and we only have 25 percent. In the end we won both. This is the line, it is very, very thin. I hope this year is fantastic and that we have two or three teams fighting for the championship."

Q: What is your view on the customer car situation?

Briatore: "It is for 2008. I don't know. For me it is the rule, it is done, everybody knows. If somebody is in the 2008 championship then it is because they have accepted the rule."

Q: What about for this year?

Briatore: "I believe that it is between these teams that have been complaining together. It is quite ridiculous. If somebody believes something is wrong then they should go there and protest and finish it. I don't want to be involved in all these situations. The people know exactly what the rules are in terms of constructors or not, and if the car does not apply to the regulations then you protest."

Q: Last year you suggested that F1 was not a level playing field. Are you satisfied that this year will be better?

Briatore: "It has not started yet! Just wait. Just wait! It is too early to say!

"Last year there were two or three situations that I did not like and I said that. You guys have known me for several years and if there is something wrong then I will tell you, because I believe in this business we spend a lot of money and we want to be clean and transparent through the weekend.

"What happened at Monza, really I don't like. The penalisation of Fernando at Monza was very hard and very wrong, I don't like it. It is as simple as that. It was not fair for F1 or the championship. This was my strong feeling, but in the end God exists. There is a natural justice. If the human beings cannot put things together then maybe somebody else can put things together."

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