exceptional team spirit - Briatore
Flavio Briatore, Renault's team boss, talks about what made Renault a championship winning team in 2005. According to Flavio, the exceptional team spirit at Renault is part of the double championship win.
Interview with Flavio Briatore
Flavio, many people were impressed by the team spirit at Renault this year. How was it from the inside?
"As Patrick Faure has said, we are all very proud. On the technical front, we gave the drivers a car that was capable of being competitive. Everybody has recognised what Fernando achieved, but we should not forget Fisico. We won the constructors’ title with Fisico’s points as well. We have a great team spirit, and you could see that when our drivers were happy to be on the podium together. I think their enthusiasm showed the strength and spirit of the Renault F1 Team."
When Fernando became Renault’s test driver in 2002, you said then that he had ‘something special’. Did you expect him to be able to win so much, so quickly?
"When we decided to put Fernando in the car, we knew he was a special guy. Everybody said he was very young, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that he started very young too – he was a 20 year old with 14 years of experience. To win a world championship, you need everything to be working right. This year, Fernando made nearly no mistakes and achieved the car performance with his engineers. Also, he has demonstrated he can motivate people. So when we took him in 2002, yes, I was sure he was ready for the Renault car and to be competitive. At the time, I had let Jenson Button leave and many people that I knew nothing about Formula 1. Now I think we have shown I understand a little bit."
The next season also means news technical regulations. Do you think that they will improve the Formula 1 show as well ?
"Of course I hope that the new regulations for 2006 will improve the show because that is one of the key elements for our audience. Concerning our ambitions for the next season, needless to say we are working very hard to try and win more races, to stay at the top and to improve even more. For sure, next year we will be aiming to fight for both world titles once again."
