More from Briatore

[Dare]

    
Renault boss Flavio Briatore has attempted to shrug off the defection of double world champion Fernando Alonso to rivals McLaren.

The flamboyant Italian is leading the revamped Anglo-French team into the new Formula One season with veteran Giancarlo Fisichella and rookie Heikki Kovalainen at the wheel.

And while Briatore accepts that someone as good as Alonso will inevitably be missed, he points out that the team's back-to-back constructors' crowns in the last two seasons are proof that success in F1 is more than merely driver deep.

Speaking at the launch of Renault's 2007 challenger in Amsterdam, he said: "This is not a one-man band. I always believe it is the team that is most important.

"We showed that with Benetton and now with Renault. Four championships with a very efficient budget in two years shows that.

"We have lost Fernando, who was an asset, but after he left the team has extra motivation. Everyone in the factory has been working extra hard."

With the retirement of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, Alonso is the benchmark driver in F1.

But Briatore has faith in his driving line-up and backs Fisichella, who has won just twice in the last two years, to prove his critics wrong and mount a concerted title charge.

He continued: "You have to make sure your car is performing and after that, I believe, Fisichella and Heikki are good enough to win races and make it to the podium. If after that someone is stronger, then that's just the way it is.

"Fisichella, for me, is better this year. I'm sure Heikki will push him a lot. He is not under more pressure - I think when you have Fernando Alonso as your team-mate that is more pressure.

"Everyone has been talking about Fernando, but we won the constructors' championship with the points of Fisichella as well in both years.

"Fisichella has the talent to win, but he must concentrate, and think about working better with the team. You have to work very hard to be number one in your job."

The 2007 season, which gets under way in Melbourne on March 18, has a new-era feel to it and with Alonso moving to a team without a world championship since 1999, Briatore is predicting a much more open, entertaining contest than in recent years.

"Maybe if you win four or five races this year, you'll be there," he added.

"Maybe there are six or seven drivers who can win races. I believe there are three or four teams who can win races this year. This is what we need, a good, interesting championship.

"We need more overtaking, more life between drivers, more emotional interest. Maybe this is the year when we see more fighting between everybody."