Renault boss dismisses criticism

Renault boss Flavio Briatore is adamant his world championship leaders have “nothing to hide” and accused title rivals McLaren of mind games after accusations of team orders.

Television viewers heard Renault tell Fernando Alonso he was clear to pass team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella early in the Turkish Grand Prix.

Team orders, when one driver is forced to make way for a team-mate, are banned in Formula One and McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa accused Renault of breaking the rules in Istanbul.

But Briatore today hit back, claiming the accusations are designed to destabilise Renault as they close in on a world championship double.

He said: “If others think they need to try and pressure us by saying that then it is a good sign, but it doesn’t bother us.

“I am surprised nobody has asked why viewers heard those comments on live TV? The answer is that our team doesn’t believe in unnecessary secrecy, and we have nothing to hide.

“Giancarlo is a team player. He had problems with his tyres in the first laps, and Fernando was faster – something we told him over the radio.

“So when Fernando got alongside him, he didn’t fight his team-mate. It is not about team orders, it is about working as a team.”

Briatore claims he is not worried by McLaren’s current pace, which has seen Kimi Raikkonen score consecutive victories to move to within 24 points of world championship leader Alonso.

Raikkonen has finally begun to cash in on his car’s speed after several reliability problems, but he has only five races in which to reel in Alonso.

Briatore insists he will not be pushed into fighting McLaren and is content for Alonso to consistently rack up points.

“We have already shown we can win this year, with both drivers,” he said. “Our sport is not about dominating at one moment or another, but about scoring points progressively through the season.

“As far as I know, the driver who wins the championship is still the man with the most points at the end, and nothing else.”