Briatore happy to lose if Renault avoid boring tag

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore says he does not mind his team losing the occasional race as it will help them avoid the boring tag associated with Ferrari's five-year domination of the sport.

"We've won five out of the seven races this season, but you can't win every time and the important thing is to be competitive," the Italian said in Madrid yesterday.

"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everyone likes."

Giancarlo Fisichella took the honours in the season-opener in Australia and Fernando Alonso has won four of the subsequent six races to lead the world championship.

Ferrari driver and six-times world champion Michael Schumacher is in an unaccustomed eighth position in the standings, 43 points behind Alonso.

"I thought Ferrari would be more competitive," said Briatore.

"McLaren's performances have not come as a surprise because they worked very hard in winter."

Although delighted with his team so far this season, the flamboyant Italian voiced his concern that tyres were playing too important a role in this year's title race.

"The sport is becoming more of a tyre championship."

Briatore responded to questions about the possible switch of world MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi to Formula One by saying that the Italian would have more difficulties than many predicted.

"It would be very good for us to have Rossi in F1, but there would be no chance of him winning things. The problem is that he would have to start at the bottom as a test driver - you can't just come along and get in the car and race."