Everything we need - Briatore

The ING Renault F1 Team Principal, Flavio Briatore, was invited to the official FIA press conference this afternoon at Sepang. Here are some extracts of what the flamboyant Italian had to say in Malaysia.

“I think so. The team was at the circuit, the equipment too and the freight was paid. Economically speaking it was a logical move. On the other hand, we were back to zero this morning and we’ve done a lot of running in private testing. We’ll have to make sure that the mileage covered outside races doesn’t explode.”

“It’s the same story in any company. When you lose a key player, you miss something. But you’ve got to realise that the team’s strong; the people are the same, and that they’re working with Giancarlo and Heikki. Last year, we fought right down to the wire to win the crown. Now, we’re a bit behind; we know that and we also know that we’ve got to get back to the front quickly. We’ve got everything we need to do it: the people, the budget and the drivers.”

“True, there are a lot of rumours flying round. To be frank with you, I don’t pay too much attention to them. If the drivers are happy, if the circuit provides enough safety, and if the spectators get what they want then I’m all for it. To be honest, I’d prefer to have more races and less testing!”