27/05/2009
NEWS STORY
Following last week's open mockery by Ferrari of some of the teams seeking entry to F1 in 2010, Renault boss Flavio Briatore has launched his own attack, claiming next year's F1 grid will resemble a GP2 event.
"We are devaluing Formula One," the Italian told Spain's El Mundo newspaper. "It is not correct that teams of GP2 race with us; it brings down our image and our technology."
Ahead of the latest meeting of the teams' alliance - FOTA - which takes place in London today, he said there is still hope of a peaceful solution to the ongoing row over the FIA's plan for a budget cap and, indeed, its governance of the sport.
"It is said that the constructors will go. But with normal regulations, I do not believe that any constructor would go.
"But what we cannot have is F1 with a little bit of formula two and a little bit of GP2," he added. "The small teams have to have success on the basis of their results.
"I began with a small team, Benetton, and with clear regulations we competed with McLaren and Ferrari and won in 1994 and '95 with a budget 80 per cent smaller. We never asked for different regulations."
Ironically, Briatore, along with Bernie Ecclestone, conceived the idea of GP2, and remains, along with Bruno Michel, a major stakeholder in the series.