Formula 1
Briatore unhappy with Schumacher
Renault boss Flavio Briatore is less than impressed with Michael Schumacher after the Malaysian Grand Prix, blaming the champion for ruining his team's race. Schumacher made a rare mistake at the second corner on the first lap, running into the back ...
Published: Mar 27, 2003, 6:59 AM
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Renault boss Flavio Briatore is less than impressed with Michael Schumacher after the Malaysian Grand Prix, blaming the champion for ruining his team's race. Schumacher made a rare mistake at the second corner on the first lap, running into the back of Renault's Jarno Trulli, who was in second place at the time.
A peeved Briatore told the British press; "When Michael is under pressure he makes mistakes and running into Jarno was a very stupid one indeed. He ruined the race for us." Trulli spun but regained the track, managing to finish fifth in front of Schumacher.
Jarno Trulli.
Photo by Renault F1.
Without the incident it would still be debatable if Trulli could have kept the Ferrari behind him, whether by pure speed or by pit stop strategy. Fellow Renault driver, and pole sitter, Fernando Alonso lost out to the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, to finish third.
Schumacher has come in for some criticism after the first two races, many saying that he's not used to not being at the front and can't cope with the pressure of having to fight for position. It was undoubtedly a silly mistake by the German but whether it was pressure or just a racing incident, Briatore thinks Schumacher is having a tough time so far.
"Last season, Michael had a second a lap advantage over everyone and could just drive into the distance," he said. "But he is finding it a bit more difficult now."
Michael himself freely admitted that the incident was his own fault, a simple mistake, and apologized to Trulli, who was not appeased: "Michael came to apologise afterwards, but that can't change the result," he remarked.
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