Talking to Italian magazine Motosprint, the Italian manager insisted that Piquet's failing to make a stand in the 2009 Formula One championship is not because he raced on less competitive R29s (as compare to teammate Fernando Alonso), but because he simply doesn't have it in him to become a great F1 racer.
“I've always been fair with my drivers. I expected more from Piquet because this is his second year with a full-time drive. He's done less testing compared to Alonso, but Webber as well tested less than Vettel because of his broken leg, but look where he is now,” said Briatore.
“When a driver lacks results, he opens the book of excuses and begins: the fault is the weather's, a spectator's sunglasses, a spin on the straight, this and that... It's not true that there's a technical difference of seven tenths between Alonso's and Piquet's car. The technical difference has always been minimal and never longer than one race,” added the 59-year old Italian.
Piquet issued a quick response to his team boss' accusations, arguing that Briatore's only thoughts are pointed towards money and profits, rather than genuine F1 racing.
“Flavio is a business man, but he doesn't understand s*** about F1. He's my manager, but in his role of team boss he doesn't respect me. He only thinks about money, at how much money he can pocket in everything he's involved, he's a man with no friends. Every day everyone asks me what's going on, so why should I always keep quiet?” said Piquet for the same publication.
“I have to fight against Briatore and Alonso himself, who is a fantastic driver. When I wasn't competitive in qualifying, I was the first owing up to it. But if Briatore doesn't understand that, what can I do?” added the Brazilian driver.
Under the circumstances, we believe GP2 driver Romain Grosjean should already start packing for his F1 debut, as a reconciliation between Piquet and Briatore is highly unlikely now.
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