Renault boss says rule decisions cost F1 fans

[April 17, 2009]  SHANGHAI (AP) -- Renault's team principal has launched a withering attack on Formula One's regulators over rule interpretations that have hurt leading teams.

Flavio Briatore said the credibility of the sport had been damaged by Brawn GP's Jenson Button leading the championship after two races while the big names in F1 have struggled.

He worries that interest has already been stripped from the 2009 season.

The success of F1 newcomer Brawn, and the competitiveness of Toyota -- winless in F1 history -- and Williams -- without a win since 2004 -- has been largely due to their use of an undercar air diffuser which other teams claimed were illegal. A court hearing this week ruled in favor of the car part.

Ferrari has yet to score a point this season, McLaren has just one, while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault has 4 points. By contrast, Button has 15 points and his veteran teammate Rubens Barrichello is second in the championship race with 10.

"Our (Ferrari, McLaren and Renault) drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a (Brawn) driver who was almost retired, and another who is a 'paracarro,' fighting for the championship," Briatore was quoted to say by Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "I don't know how we can say we have credibility."

Paracarro is an Italian term for a roadside post, usually made of stone or concrete.

"It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams.

"In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and (Williams' Kazuki) Nakajima 50.

"It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else."

[Associated Press]

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