Briatore: "Renault is trying to return to the top of Formula 1"

Flavio Briatore continues to insist that Fernando Alonso could have finished the race in China only behind the Brawn and Red Bulls, but the strategy of starting too light was thwarted by the rain and the start with the Safety Car, and the Spaniard is not managed to go further to finish ninth.

"If everything had worked perfectly he could have finished fifth. And our car is stronger than it seems," Briatore told the Spanish newspaper Marca. "I want to see a race with normal weather conditions because we are much more competitive (than before)," added the Italian.

According to Briatore, with the new double diffuser Renault was "faster than Ferrari, McLaren and BMW" in China.

Then he added: "We still have improvements for Fernando and Piquet in Barcelona." Although he promised a new diffuser for Nelson Piquet's car already for the Bahrain race this weekend, the Italian was not very satisfied with the Brazilian's performance last Sunday. "I can understand if it happens once, but (in China) it felt like a competition: the more you spin the more points you get," Briatore said.

Andre' Cotta