Briatore: "The new rules take away credibility from F1"

A furious Flavio Briatore accused the F1 government in Shanghai of having dealt another blow to the credibility of the category with the legalization of the controversial speakers. Although Fernando Alonso's car can now count on a new aerodynamic development of the part in question, the Renault boss declared that a dangerous path is being taken. “After Senna's death the principle has always been not to give ground effect to the single-seaters, but now this has suddenly become legal,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport in China. He further added that the current state of affairs, with Renault, McLaren and Ferrari struggling and Brawn drivers at the top of the timesheets, is 'an affront to the credibility of F1.

“Our drivers are or have been world champions, and now we find ourselves with a Brawn driver who in practice had already retired and another who is a “kerbstone” fighting for the world championship” underlined Briatore. “I don't know how anyone can say we're credible.” As regards the definition of "kerbstone", it is not clear whether Briatore was referring to Button or Barrichello. With a modified diffuser, Lewis Hamilton was among the fastest in China on Friday morning, but Briatore doubts that the efficiency of the original offending diffuser can be easily recovered.

“It is impossible to make up the gap we have accumulated from these teams” he insisted. “In three or four races the championship will already be decided and I don't know what the interest of the viewers will be when they see Button have 60 points and Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen to the races on the radio and watch something else” he said said Briatore. He also added that the current situation is also aggravated by Max Mosley's farce proposal to impose a spending cap of 33 million per team for next year. “We spent 15 for KERS, another 10 for the speakers, so we will only have another five for travel and to pay the employees” added Briatore.

The Red Bull men have also expressed their disappointment regarding the issue, while BMW has not yet decided whether or not to appeal the commissioners' decision to reject the appeal against the diffusers presented in Malaysia. At the same time, Ferrari driver Stefano Domenicali is cautious about the speed with which the Court of Appeal decided to reject the appeals presented by the teams on the diffuser issue. “The feeling is that a decision had already been made,” he said in Shanghai. “The court met on Tuesday, and made the decision the next morning. It's strange and we await the court's reasons,” concluded Domenicali.

Marco Privitera