17/10/2008
NEWS STORY
As if it isn't enough that Fernando Alonso has said he will aid Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica - indeed pretty much anyone else in the 2008 Formula One World Championship - as they take on Lewis Hamilton, team boss Flavio Briatore has launched his own attack on the English driver and his team.
Ahead of the penultimate race of the 2008 season, with all eyes on Hamilton, who nurses a five-point lead over Massa, Briatore says the Englishman is not up to the job, predicting that the youngster will "throw away" the title as in 2007.
"In my opinion Hamilton will try to throw the title away again," claimed the Italian, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. "He and McLaren were amazing last year, to lose it with a 17-point lead and two races to go is Guinness Book of Records stuff.
"Now that he has a five point-lead, he could repeat the trick," he added. "For me, Massa will win the title.
"Hamilton has learnt nothing," the Renault boss continued. "We saw that in Japan. You should tell him that he is a Formula One driver, not a Martian. He is not Muhammad Ali. He is a young man who must still demonstrate his worth. He is a good driver but you see good drivers also taking results home. There are good (football) forwards who always hit the post or the bar and the ball never goes in. Then there are those that score… and he hasn't scored yet."
The Italian also took time to take a swipe at McLaren, admitting that he'll be supporting Ferrari in the title fight(s)
"It is logical that I support Ferrari, as an Italian, as Flavio Briatore, as Renault, for the relationship we have with Ferrari," he said. "Instead McLaren accused us of spying, we went on for four months with this nonsense that never existed."